Department for Work and Pensions

Employment Schemes

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department offers to people over 25-years old to re-enter the job market.

Damian Hinds: Jobcentre Plus has a flexible support model to provide support and District Managers have discretion on how to target interventions. The model has three elements: a core regime of regular face-to-face meetings; flexible work coach support; and a flexible menu of support options. Where Jobcentre Plus District Managers identify gaps in skills or other provision they have discretion to purchase extra support to meet particular needs using the Flexible Support Fund. Jobcentre Plus work coaches can advise claimants on the localised provision and support available, either by employment sector or skills/employability.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2017 to Question 105738, how many people aged (a) between 100 and 105, (b) between 106 and 110, (c) between 111 and 115 and (d) over 116-years receive the UK state pension in each country outside the UK.

Guy Opperman: There are issues with the quality and robustness of the data relating to those over 100 years old so it is not possible to give a definitive answer at this stage. I will write to the Hon gentleman providing further details.

Personal Independence Payment

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who previously qualified for disability living allowance have not been awarded personal independence payments following assessments by Atos.

Penny Mordaunt: DWP case managers make decisions on all claims based on the PIP2 questionnaire completed by the claimant, any additional evidence they have submitted, the report from the assessment provider and any additional information the assessment provider has requested, for example information from the claimant’s GP. Up to 31st July 2017, 649,480 claimants underwent a Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reassessment with Independent Assessment Services (IAS), previously known as Atos. Of these claimants, 125,680 were disallowed PIP and 523,800 were awarded PIP by the department.  Source: PIP Computer System claimant records. Notes:1. The figures above are the outcome of the first DWP decision on each reassessment claim (i.e. prior to any reconsideration, appeal action and award review), where that decision was a disallowance after the claimant underwent an assessment by Independent Assessment Services (previously known as Atos).2. Figures include decisions made between 8th April 2013 and 31st July 2017.2. Figures include reassessment outcomes for individuals who were aged between 16 and 64 on 8th April 2013, and include both PIP Normal Rules and Special Rules for the Terminally Ill claims.3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.4. Great Britain only.

Local Housing Allowance

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of households in (a) Hull and (b) England who will be (i) made statutory homeless and (ii) in rent arrears as a result of the freeze of the Local Housing Allowance in (A) 2016-17, (B) 2017-18 and (C) 2018-19 financial years.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not available. Furthermore, there is currently no clear evidence to suggest that the LHA freeze is contributing to increased arrears or homelessness. The latest statistics show that the number of homelessness acceptances in England has decreased slightly over the past year and the figures are very similar to the homelessness acceptances when the freeze commenced.

Jobcentres: Sheffield

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has estimated the potential savings to the public purse of the closure of Eastern Avenue jobcentre.

Damian Hinds: DWP continues to negotiate suitable terms on sites within Sheffield. Therefore due to on-going commercial sensitivities around these new lease agreements, we cannot comment on financial matters, provide details of the current lease or details of the future/new leases. This includes those sites being retained which we propose will take in staff and services from Eastern Avenue.

Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department was consulted by the Department for Exiting the European Union on the economic impact assessments conducted for the UK leaving the EU.

Damian Hinds: The Government is carrying out an ongoing programme of comprehensive analytical work that will inform our negotiating position with the EU, to define our deep and special partnership with the EU and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. The Department for Work and Pensions is working with officials across government, in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), to ensure the delivery of a holistic programme of analysis across government.

State Retirement Pensions: Midlothian

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many items of correspondence he has received from people in Midlothian constituency on changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit: Midlothian

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints his Department has received from universal credit claimants in Midlothian constituency since its introduction.

Damian Hinds: The Midlothian constituency is one of seventeen constituencies within the catchment area of East and South East Scotland District. Complaint information can only be drilled down to Jobcentre District level and is not available at constituency level. We are able to provide complaint information for Live and Full Service Universal Credit from 1/1/2016. From this date 274 complaints concerning Universal Credit have been received by East and South East Scotland District.

Jobcentres: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which jobcentres in Wales have offered claimants free access to jobcentre (a) telephone lines and (b) computers in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: All Jobcentres across Wales and Great Britain have had customer computers and free to use wi-fi since 2014/15, replacing the customer access telephones and jobpoints in place prior to this. This reflects increased digital capability and accessibility, improving services for all customers regardless of their location. There are more than 8,000 computers available to support customers who need help with making their claim digitally and applying for jobs on line across the Jobcentre network. However, customers who require access to a phone in connection with their benefit or job search will still be given access to a telephone in a Jobcentre.

Jobcentres: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times jobcentre computers were accessed by claimants in each jobcentre in Wales in the latest period for which figures are available.

Caroline Dinenage: Information on the number of times jobcentre computers were accessed by claimants in each jobcentre in Wales is not collected. The table PQ109613 attached in Annex 1 shows the number of Wireless Access Devices (WADs) allocated to each Jobcentre in Wales, and the number of times the WI-FI facility at each Jobcentre in Wales was accessed, in August 2017 (latest data available).



PQ109613 Annex 1
(Word Document, 22.39 KB)

Jobcentres: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many telephone calls were made by benefit claimants from within each jobcentre in Wales in the latest period for which figures are available.

Caroline Dinenage: The information is not available and can only be provided at disproportionate costs

Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of his Department's service providers' complaints are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Caroline Dinenage: On 27th October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner's Office had 230 complaints about Department for Work and Pensions Service Providers awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

Children: Maintenance

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Group complaints are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Caroline Dinenage: On 27th October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner's Office had 276 complaints about Child Maintenance Group awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability, pensions, working age and debt management complaints are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Caroline Dinenage: On 27th October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner's Office had 501 complaints about disability, pensions and working age benefits and debt management awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints relating to women born in the 1950s and affected by changes in state pension age are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Caroline Dinenage: On 27th October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner's Office had 1,216 complaints from women born in the 1950s and affected by changes in state pension age awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

Jobcentres: Sheffield

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2017 to Question 106233, on jobcentres: Sheffield, if he plans to publish a cost-benefit analysis for the closure of Eastern Avenue Jobcentre by the end of 2017.

Damian Hinds: I refer the honourable member to the response given to Question 106233 on 16 October 2017. We are not in a position to share any figures due to commercial confidentiality pending completion of legal processes. No figures will be published in 2017.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to address the good news culture in his Department in relation to the roll-out of universal credit, which was identified by the National Audit Office in its report universal credit: early progress published in September 2013.

Damian Hinds: The delivery of the Universal Credit programme has undergone a number of changes since the 2013 NAO report. The Universal Credit programme is already subject to a robust regime of internal and external scrutiny, including oversight from the Work and Pensions Select Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, the National Audit Office and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. We have also published our transparency policy and recently published a suite of reports, analysis and statistics which gives an open an honest overview of all aspects of the programme.

Universal Credit

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many alternative payment arrangements have been made in each month since April 2013.

Damian Hinds: The latest available information on alternative payment arrangements can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-statistics-on-alternative-payment-arrangements. The latest available information on managed payments to landlords can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-29-apr-2013-to-10-aug-2017.

Universal Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the (a) effect on claimants and (b) extent of the practice of encouraging claimants to voluntarily switch from legacy benefits to universal credit.

Damian Hinds: Claimants can not voluntarily switch from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.

Department for Work and Pensions: Travel

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether tickets for the journeys undertaken by the Minister of State for Employment set out in the transparency release, entitled DWP's ministerial travel, April to June 2017, were (a) first, (b) business, (c) economy and (d) any other class.

Damian Hinds: The journeys I have undertaken for the period, April to June 2017 in the latest transparency release were all economy class.

Home Office

Police: Cars

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police cars in each constabulary have been painted with the rainbow flag since 2015.

Mr Nick Hurd: How forces deploy and equip police vehicles is an operational matter for chief constables.

Visas: Fees and Charges

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the potential income from (a) email and (b) other visa charges.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Cambridge on the 11th September 2017, UIN 7774.

Visas: Telephone Services

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make the visa enquiry helpline free of charge.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central on the 10th October 2017, UIN 105124.

Antisocial Behaviour

Leo Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support the police in tackling street drinking and anti-social behaviour.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office contributed to guidance on tackling street drinking that was published by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners last year. That guidance advocates a multi-agency, multi-component approach to dealing with individuals who often have complex needs. Through the Local Alcohol Action Areas programme, the Home Office is supporting more than thirty areas across England and Wales to tackle alcohol harms, including those associated with street drinking. In addition, in appropriate circumstances, the powers provided by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 can be used to tackle or prevent alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.

Refugees: Scotland

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward secondary legislation to enable Scottish local authorities to accept unaccompanied minors from the National Transfer Scheme.

Brandon Lewis: We are committed to extending the transfer provisions in the Immigration Act 2016 to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We intend to bring forward draft regulations at the earliest opportunity.

Dual Nationality: EU Countries

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in the UK have applied for dual UK-EU citizenship since 23 June 2016.

Brandon Lewis: The available information published on the number of total applications made for British citizenship by nationality is in the Home Office’s Immigration Statistics, April – June 2017, Citizenship table cz_01_q_a available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017/list-of-tables The UK allows dual nationality and so it is possible for those holding the nationality of another EU state to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen. Providing the other state also allows dual nationality, it is possible for a person to hold two EU nationalities.

Visas: China

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications her Department has received for standard visitor visas from China in each of the last 10 years; and how many such applications were successful.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications her Department has received for two-year visit visas for Chinese nationals from China in each of the years that scheme has been operating.

Brandon Lewis: Information on the total number of Visitor visa applications and decisions is published quarterly. The most recent information can be found in the Home Office publication ‘Immigration Statistics, April – June 2017’. A breakdown of total Visitor visa applications, grants and refusals is published in Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q and Visitor visa grants, by nationality, is published in Visas data tables volume 3, table vi_06_q_o, available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017/list-of-tables#visas.

Immigrants

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of overstayers who (a) are and (b) are not in detention from (i) all countries, (ii) India, (iii) China, (iv) Bangladesh and (v) Pakistan.

Brandon Lewis: I am sorry but the Home Office does not hold the information you have requested in a reportable format.

Refugees: Families

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of refugee families reunited under the Mandate scheme.

Brandon Lewis: Since 2008, the Home Office have resettled over 380 refugees to the UK under the Mandate scheme.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees can refer any case meeting the scheme’s criteria to the Home Office for consideration and there is no fixed annual quota.

British Nationals Abroad: Middle East

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many British citizens have returned to the UK after fighting in Iraq and Syria since 2012.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Approximately 850 UK linked individuals of national security concern have travelled to engage with the Syrian conflict. We estimate that just under half have returned and approximately 15% are now dead. This number includes all those of national security concern, not just those affiliated with Daesh. Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.

Gun Sports

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any civilian target shooting club in the UK is approved by her Department to use armour piercing or explosive ammunition.

Mr Nick Hurd: A small number of shooting clubs are approved to use firearms which use armour-piercing ammunition.

Rifles

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has met representatives of the (a) FCSA UK club or (b) National Rifle Association to discuss her Department's proposals on banning .50 calibre rifles.

Mr Nick Hurd: On 14 October the Government launched a public consultation on proposals to strengthen controls on offensive and dangerous weapons, including the prohibition of two types of firearm: .50 calibre ‘materiel destruction’ rifles and rapid fire rifles, such as the VZ58 Manually Actuated Release System (MARS) rifle. The consultation closes on 9 December.The Fifty Calibre Shooters Association has requested a meeting with officials to discuss the proposals and this is being arranged. We have not had a similar request from the National Rifle Association but would welcome their views.

Gun Sports

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department uses to formally approve target shooting clubs; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: To be approved by the Home Office, shooting clubs must comply with the criteria for approval as published under the terms of section 15(3) of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988.

Refugees: Children

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on granting asylum to unaccompanied child refugees in Europe under the Dubs scheme.

Brandon Lewis: Over 200 unaccompanied children have arrived in the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and transfers are ongoing.The Government is fully committed to delivering our commitment to transfer the specified number of 480 children under section 67. We are working very closely with Member States, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGO partners to identify and transfer children to the UK in line with each individual Member State’s national laws.

Immigrants: Detainees

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the additional resources required to accelerate the processing of applications to ensure that immigration detention times do not exceed 28 days.

Brandon Lewis: The Government has no plans to introduce a fixed time limit on immigration detention. The Home Office is continually reviewing internal processes to ensure that the time any individual spends in immigration detention is kept to a minimum. Each person’s case is considered on the specific individual circumstances surrounding their immigration and/or offending history.

Immigration Controls: Costs

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the additional expenditure required to control levels of immigration at the UK border after the UK leaves the EU.

Brandon Lewis: We actively monitor workflows at the border to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand and will continue to do so throughout EU Exit negotiations and as the UK leaves the EU. We are considering a range of options for the UK’s future immigration system and will be outlining further details of the new system later in the year.

Police: Finance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2017 to Question 105689, on police: finance, whether her Department holds the information requested in Question 105689.

Mr Nick Hurd: The final police settlement for 2017/18 was laid in Parliament on 1st February 2017. The final police settlement was debated and agreed in the House of Commons on 22nd February.Overall police spending, including council tax precept, is protected in real terms for the period of Spending Review 2015. Each PCC who maximised their precept income in 2015/16 and 2016/17 are receiving at least cash flat direct resource funding in 2017/18 when compared to 2015/16.

Refugees: Children

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing more localised administration of the Dubs Scheme based in the regions and constituent parts of the UK.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office works closely with local authorities across Great Britain through regional Strategic Migration Partnerships to ensure all unaccompanied children arriving here receive the care and support they need. We encourage local authorities to offer suitable placements, regardless of the child’s route of arrival.The National Transfer Scheme for unaccompanied children is already based on a regional model and was established to promote a fairer distribution of caring responsibilities across the country in a way that protects the best interests of all children.

Psychiatry: Migrant Workers

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2017 to Question 107878, on the international skills charge, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health about the financial effect on mental health trusts of the introduction of the international skills charge for psychiatrists who do not have a PhD and who are on tier 2 visas.

Brandon Lewis: The Migration Advisory Committee in their review of Tier 2 in December 2015 strongly supported the introduction of the Immigration Skills Charge and was clear that it should apply to the public sector, including the NHS. The rate and scope of the charge, including exemptions from the charge, were agreed in discussion with other government departments, including the Department of Health.

Emergency Services Network

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the emergency services network will operate underground; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The new Emergency Services Network (ESN) will provide the dedicated teams who work so hard protecting the public and saving lives with the most advanced communications system of its kind anywhere in the world. The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is working with both Transport for London (TFL), Crossrail, and other bodies across Britain to ensure that there is coverage in underground stations, metro systems, back office areas and tunnels that is as good as, or better than, that offered by the current Airwave solution. This is cutting-edge technology and we have always said that we will not be taking any risks with public safety and so Airwave will continue until the emergency services have completed transition on to ESN.

Emergency Services Network: Testing

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will continue to facilitate the use of Airwave until the emergency services have confirmed that the emergency services network has been rigorously tested.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) remains committed to providing the Emergency Service users the time they need to transition safely to the Emergency Service Network (ESN) and are working on the assumption of a continuing need for a 27 month user transition period once mobilisation has been completed.The Government is very clear that there will be no risks taken with public safety and there will be no gap in the emergency services’ communications provision.

Emergency Services Network: Motorola Solutions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the outcome was of negotiations with Motorola on the legacy core transmission network.

Mr Nick Hurd: Airwave provides a fully managed service to the three Emergency Services. Negotiations by Airwave on the legacy core transmission network with any of its subcontractors are managed by Airwave.

Crimes of Violence: Reparation by Offenders

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of violent crime were disposed of out of court in each of the last three years; and in how many of those cases restorative justice was used.

Mr Nick Hurd: Data on outcomes, including out of court outcomes, for crimes are published quarterly by the Home Office. Outcomes data for violent crimes in the last three years can be obtained via the open data tables available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Migrant Workers: EU Nationals

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Immigration Skills charge will be applied to employers of EU nationals that arrive after the grace period following the UK leaving the EU.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the Hon. Lady to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk on 4 July 2017, UIN 1040.

Asylum

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2017 to Question 109366, on asylum: applications, what number of decision makers constitute the level that allows her Department to progress cases in line with service standards.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office has a published service standard to make an asylum decision on 98% of straightforward claims within 6 months of the date of the claim being lodged. The number of Decision Makers are maintained at a level that allows the Home Office to progress cases in line with service standards. Data on performance against the published service standard can be found on tabs Asy 10 and 11 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2017.

Compass Contracts

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Compass contracts for housing asylum seekers.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office is committed to ensuring that destitute asylum seekers are accommodated in safe, secure and suitable accommodation whilst their claims are considered.We remain in daily contact with our providers and have worked closely with them to develop improvements to the service over the lifetime of the contract and as part of the recent contract extension. The Department will continue to monitor the providers closely to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the contract and work closely with non-Government Organisations and service users to respond to feedback and continue to improve the system.We have started putting in place new arrangements for when these contracts expire in 2019. This work is at an early stage and we are engaging with a range of stakeholders to consider options for the future arrangements.

Compass Contracts

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the accommodation provided under the Compass contracts are fit for human habitation.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Leeds West (Ms Reeves) on 6 October 2017, UIN 106323.

Northern Ireland Office

Proscribed Organisations: Internet

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to prevent the online sale of merchandise promoting (a) the IRA and (b) other terrorist groups.

Chloe Smith: The UK Government is at the forefront of the battle against online extremist and terrorist material. The Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) will continue to work in partnership with a range of companies to secure the removal of terrorist content. Since 2010, the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) has secured the removal of over 290,000 pieces of terrorist material, and developed strong relationships with around 300 companies.

Northern Ireland Office: Brexit

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department was consulted by the Department for Exiting the European Union on the economic impact assessments conducted for the UK leaving the EU.

Chloe Smith: The Government is carrying out an ongoing programme of comprehensive analytical work that will inform our negotiating position with the EU, to define our deep and special partnership with the EU and inform our understanding of how Brexit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. My officials are working with officials across government, in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union, to ensure the delivery of a holistic programme of analysis across government.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

5G

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to provide a timetable and schedule of events for the Glasgow briefing on 1 November 2017 on 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme: Phase 1 funding competition.

Matt Hancock: The 5G briefing event in Glasgow will follow the same structure as the other briefing events taking place across the UK to support the launch of the first competition for the Government’s 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme. The schedule for the event includes presentations from DCMS officials, which will cover the 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme and information on the Phase 1 funding competition. As the competition is being run in conjunction with Innovate UK, representatives will also have a chance to address the audience on the competition’s selection process and eligibility. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions on all areas discussed. A full timetable and schedule is available on the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) website: https://ktn-uk.co.uk/events/dcms-5g-testbeds-trials-programme-briefing-glasgow

Electronic Programme Guides

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that electronic programme guide providers comply with their duties to provide prominence for public service channels.

Matt Hancock: Under the Digital Economy Act 2017, Ofcom are required to publish a report on PSB prominence which looks at the ease of finding and accessing PSB content across all television platforms on both a linear and on-demand basis. The first report must be published before 1 December 2020 and Ofcom’s code on the Electronic Programme Guide must also be reviewed by this date.

Broadband: Universal Service Obligation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2017 to Question 7471, on broadband: universal service obligation, what estimate she has made of the proportion of (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) West Yorkshire that will be able to access broadband speed of 10Mbps in (i) one month, (ii) six months and (iii) one year.

Matt Hancock: We have not made any specific estimates of the proportion of the Hemsworth constituency and West Yorkshire that will be able to access broadband speed of 10Mbps within these timescales. Currently, an estimated 94% of premises in West Yorkshire and York have access to superfast broadband. By the end of the current contract in March 2018, coverage is estimated to increase to over 96%. Our ambition is to ensure universal access to broadband at minimum speeds of 10Mbps by 2020.

Broadband: Universal Service Obligation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2017 to Question 7471, on broadband: universal service obligation, whether that timetable includes new housing developments in (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.

Matt Hancock: The Government’s ambition is to ensure universal access to broadband at minimum speeds of 10Mbps by 2020, so that no home or business is left behind.

S4C Independent Review

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2017 to Question 107920, on S4C: Reviews, if she will publish the names of the key partners, stakeholders and parties interested in S4C who were invited to submit evidence to the independent review of S4C.

Matt Hancock: A list of all partners, stakeholders and interested parties consulted will be published alongside the review.

Youth Social Action Review

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to respond to the recommendations of the youth full-time social action review.

Tracey Crouch: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will respond to recommendations made by the Full Time Social Action Review after the Review has concluded.

Department of Health

Cervical Cancer: North West

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women in each clinical commissioning group (CCG) in the North West have not had a cervical smear test in the last three years despite receiving letters inviting them to do so; and what actions have been taken by each of those CCGs to reduce that number.

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average time was that each clinical commissioning group in the North West took to send letters informing women of the results of their cervical smear tests in the first six months of 2017.

Steve Brine: The information requested for uptake of women per clinical commissioning group (CCG) in North West for the last three years is not available. This is because the National Health Service Cervical Screening programme reports on coverage and not on uptake rates, though there are plans in place for this to be introduced in 2018. The latest 2016 figures on coverage are published by NHS Digital and is provided by CCG level:http://bit.ly/cervical_screen_coverage_quarterly_CCGdataData on the average time that each CCG in the North West took to send letters is not available. NHS England closely monitors the turnaround times for cervical screening against a quality measure which means that 98% of women who are screened should receive their results within two weeks. For the first six months of 2017, six of the eight Lancashire and south Cumbria CCGs were reported as meeting the 98% target.

Incontinence

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2017 to Question 9587, on incontinence, if he will make it his policy to collect centrally that information.

Steve Brine: NHS England currently have no plans to collect centralised data to measure any reduction in the number of prescriptions for catheters, out-patient appointments, surgical interventions and costs relating to pads and other incontinence products.

Abortion Act 1967: Anniversaries

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the events that he and Ministers of his Department attended to mark the 50th anniversary of passing of the Abortion Act 1967.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Departmental Ministers have not attended any events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act 1967.

Docetaxel

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent by each clinical commissioning group in England on Docetaxel since the publication of Docetaxel in combination with androgen deprivation therapy for the treatment of hormone naive metastatic prostate cancer by NHS England on 20 January 2016.

Steve Brine: There were no prescriptions of docetaxel by clinical commissioning groups in primary care over this period. NHS Digital is unable to identify the specific indication for which a prescription has been prescribed. Information on hospital costs (at list price) covering all possible uses is available at NHS England Region level and is provided in the table below: National Health Service estimated costs (£) of docetaxel (at list price) issued by hospital pharmacies in England1, by region, 2015 and 2016 20152016England164,346,50971,385,551Central Midlands4,681,2365,933,700Cheshire and Merseyside4,725,9334,126,694Cumbria and North East3,020,3963,571,486East5,375,0505,603,733Greater Manchester3,349,5752,833,002Lancashire1,528,3951,718,229London8,746,04210,175,348North Midlands4,125,2065,538,382South Central3,269,0404,113,010South East6,448,2596,182,164South West3,924,5614,038,755Wessex3,325,5804,016,453West Midlands5,432,6136,522,771Yorkshire and Humber5,825,1016,429,341 Source: 2017 QuintilesIMS: Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index; Note:1National figures are grossed up to give England level estimates. Sub-national figures are not adjusted in any way. Therefore, the sum of the regions will not match the England total.

Breast Cancer: Health Education

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the events that he and Ministers of his Department attended as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2017.

Steve Brine: The Department’s Ministers attended three events recently as part of this year’s breast cancer awareness month. These were: a “Breast Cancer Now” event in September to promote breast cancer awareness month, attended by my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State; a reception on 9 October hosted by His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States marking the 25th anniversary of the United Kingdom’s Breast Cancer campaign, attended by my hon. Friend the Minister of State; and I spoke at the All Party Parliamentary Group on breast cancer’s reception on 23rd October.

NHS Trusts: Alcoholic Drinks

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NHS Employers paper, Alcohol and Drugs, whether NHS trusts in England are required to have policies on alcohol at work; which NHS trusts have introduced such policies; and when such policies were last reviewed.

Mr Philip Dunne: It is the responsibility of each National Health Service employer to ensure that its staff are aware of the policies that are in place relating to drug and alcohol misuse. It is also its responsibility to make staff aware of the consequences of breaching these policies.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the budget surplus of (a) clinical commissioning groups in England and (b) Greater Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group for 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: Financial performance information for each clinical commissioning group (CCG) (and in total for CCGs) can be found in the quarterly published Financial Performance Reports, accessible via the link below. NHS Manchester CCG did not exist in 2016-17; it was created in 2017-18 through the merger of the three Manchester CCGs (North, South and Central). The most recent figures for these CCGs can be found on page eight of the Quarter 4 2016-17 report. The latest figures for the newly-formed NHS Manchester CCG can be found on page 10 of the Quarter 1 2017-18 report, available at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/financial-performance-reports/

NHS: Data Protection

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the recording and sharing of NHS data to assist to improve care for patients and scientific research.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government recognises the important role that health and care data plays in improving care, treatment, support and research. We are committed to ensuring the health and social care system in England realises the benefits of sharing data in a safe, secure and legal way. NHS Digital is the trusted national provider of high quality information and data for health and social care. We are committed to ensuring that the data NHS Digital holds is accessible. We have tasked NHS Digital with a statutory duty in the Health and Social Care Act 2012, to assure the quality of all the data it collects and publishes. NHS England is working with NHS Digital to develop an information governance framework which will help health and social care organisations to clearly describe activities that require data; justify the legal basis underpinning any data sharing; and, provide assurance around how the data will be protected. This will provide information to support high quality data sharing applications, agreements and governance. It will also allow local areas to access, link and, where appropriate and safe, share data to enable population health management, while ensuring that its use is proportionate, legal and secure. We are also committed to supporting research, innovation and improvement through the use of data and information with appropriate regulation that is subject to public scrutiny.

Clinical Trials

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve the UK's clinical trials base capacity over the next five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government continues to take steps to improve the United Kingdom’s clinical trials base capacity. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) provides significant investment to support the UK’s clinical trials base and has transformed the health research environment in the UK. This investment includes the England-wide NIHR Clinical Research Network which provides the infrastructure in the National Health Service to deliver clinical trials and other well designed studies. NIHR also provides funding to support Clinical Trial Units. These specialist units support researchers in the design, conduct, analysis and publication of clinical trials and other well-designed studies. The NIHR also supports capacity development through personal and infrastructure training awards, which includes supporting the development of a highlight skilled research and trials workforce through funding for NIHR Clinical Trials Fellowships. The NIHR has recently published a review of NIHR academic training. The report is available at: www.nihr.ac.uk/our-faculty/strategic-review-of-training.htmIn 2016/17 the NIHR committed to invest £981 million over the next five years in research infrastructure in the NHS in England, providing the expertise and facilities the NHS needs to undertake health research and clinical studies. This includes funding for NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, NIHR Clinical Research Facilities and Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres. The Medical Research Council (MRC) supports a number of activities and initiatives which aim to improve the UK clinical trials capacity. The MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London provides expertise in novel clinical trial methodology including complex stratified medicine trials and contributes to capacity building through training programmes and conferences. The MRC Hub for Trials Methodology Research Network supports the development of trials methodology research in the UK through leadership and developing guidance for trialists to improve the design, conduct and reporting of clinical trials and support for PhD Studentships to grow national capacity. The MRC’s Regulatory Support Centre supports the research community with appropriate interpretation and implementation of regulatory requirements. The Government has also noted the recommendations in Sir John Bell’s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy regarding improving UK clinical trial capabilities and will consider them, along with other recommendations, as part of the ongoing sector deal process. The strategy is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-sciences-industrial-strategy

Accident and Emergency Departments

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted via accident and emergency departments with a primary diagnosis of local infection in each month of (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: A count of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances1 resulting in an admission2 and a primary diagnosis of local infection3, for the financial years between 2010-11 and 2016-174 is displayed in the table below. This is a count of hospital attendances resulting in admissions, not individual patients as the same person may have been admitted into a National Health Service hospital on more than one occasion  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17April4,1984,1844,4344,4644,6974,8494,346May4,3414,2514,5574,2674,6634,5624,764June4,1804,0604,4093,9764,4714,3504,778July4,3144,2074,6074,2764,7204,7895,150August3,9634,1834,4874,2094,4694,7094,800September3,9164,0374,2484,1654,4884,4564,614October4,1314,0974,3334,1814,5044,8114,747November4,0574,2434,1914,2424,3344,3774,315December4,4464,4924,5314,7474,8044,4714,972January4,2054,1274,3704,3494,3244,4434,521February3,6594,0143,9014,3274,0024,1744,252March4,0454,4164,3614,7834,3594,7634,793 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS DigitalNotes:1The following attendance category codes identify unplanned A&E attendances:1 = First A&E attendance3 = Follow-up A&E attendance – unplanned9 = Not known2Attendance disposal 01 = Admitted to hospital bed / become a lodged patient of the same health care provider.3A&E Diagnosis - The recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice.18 = Local Infection4HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity occurring between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted via accident and emergency departments with a primary diagnosis where nothing abnormal was detected in each month of (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: A count of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances1 resulting in an admission2 and a primary diagnosis of Nothing abnormal was detected3, for the financial years between 2010-11 and 2016-174. This is a count of hospital attendances resulting in admissions, not individual patients as the same person may have been admitted into a National Health Service hospital on more than one occasion.  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17April4,9235,2234,5305,5755,3765,3665,476May5,0935,2634,8546,6965,4245,5854,411June5,8655,2424,5406,2945,3205,3794,033July5,7504,7874,9646,7985,5085,0454,137August4,7604,5894,7186,5855,1704,3103,782September4,6375,0684,4186,4124,8664,7994,396October4,4975,7084,7716,8775,3235,0584,734November4,4405,0464,4337,0784,7315,2534,516December4,4745,0745,2836,9395,7425,1624,266January4,5685,3205,1345,3165,5635,4204,217February4,0825,0854,6154,7064,9675,8513,733March4,7195,4785,5215,2785,0006,4114,275Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital Notes:1The following attendance category codes identify unplanned A&E attendances:1 = First A&E attendance3 = Follow-up A&E attendance – unplanned9 = Not known2Attendance disposal 01 = Admitted to hospital bed / become a lodged patient of the same health care provider.3A&E Diagnosis – The recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice39 = Nothing abnormal was detected4HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity occurring between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

NHS Direct

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the public purse of NHS Direct has been in each year since its formation in March 1998.

Mr Philip Dunne: As a National Health Service trust, NHS Direct generated income to cover its operating activities, usually resulting in a small surplus. The majority of this income was earned from NHS bodies such as strategic health authorities and primary care trusts. The amounts reported each year in NHS Direct’s annual report and accounts for its net surplus and its operating expenses were as follows:Financial yearRetained surplus / (deficit) for the year £000sTotal operating expenses £000s2004/051,011147,3512005/064,420151,3162006/072,329145,5602007/085,062141,2652008/09 (restated)2,529159,5402009/10448190,2272010/112,733145,8192011/12488142,8812012/13(68,282)207,5472013/14(30,713)109,546The Department does not hold data for earlier financial years. The data for 2008-09 have been restated to reflect the first time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, thereby ensuring comparability with subsequent financial years. The data for earlier financial years were prepared using the UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice applicable at the time. NHS Direct was dissolved in 2014. Operating expenses shown above for 2012-13 and 2013-14 include costs of decommissioning.

General Practitioners: Insurance

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the discount rate change on the indemnity costs of general practitioners.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department is aware that the rise in the cost of indemnity as a result of the change in the personal discount rate announced by the then Lord Chancellor (Rt. hon. Elizabeth Truss MP) in February 2017 is an area of concern for general practitioners (GPs). The Department has been assessing the potential effect of the discount rate change by working closely with GPs and Medical Defence Organisations to ensure that appropriate funding is available to meet the additional costs to GPs, recognising the crucial role they play in the delivery of National Health Service care. On 12 October 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced that the Department is planning, subject to examination of relevant issues, the development of a state-backed indemnity scheme for general practice in England.

Members: Correspondence

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to reply to the letter of 6 October 2017 from the hon. Member for Bridgend  on Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group's proposed withdrawal of transport for renal dialysis patients.

Steve Brine: The Department received the hon. Member’s letter of 6 October on 9 October. The Department responded on 1 November.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional resources have been allocated to child and adolescent mental health services in Lancashire, outside the Greater Manchester region, since the Manchester area attack of 22 May 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England has made £1 million available to the NHS North Region to support the mental health care and treatment required for people affected by the Manchester Arena incident and to inform the response for future incidents.

Contraceptives

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that GPs and nurses are able to access training to gain and maintain qualifications to fit long-acting reversible contraception.

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to update his Department's report, entitled A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England, published in March 2013.

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in public health budgets on open access sexual health services.

Steve Brine: Issues around the sexual and reproductive health workforce are being considered as part of work being taken forward by Health Education England’s Sexual Health Workforce Task and Finish Group. The delivery of open access sexual health services is mandated for all local authorities. Sexual and Reproductive Health Profiles have been developed by Public Health England (PHE) to support local authorities, public health leads and other interested parties to monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their population and the contribution of local public health related systems. The Department closely monitors the range of indicators and outcomes at national level. In 2016, PHE undertook a survey of local authorities, NHS England and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to highlight areas of challenge within sexual health commissioning. The survey findings form the basis of an action plan published in August 2017 within the PHE report, ‘Sexual Health, Reproductive Health and HIV: A Review of Commissioning’ report. As part of the action plan, PHE will take forward a range of activities aimed at strengthening commissioning. These actions include providing evidence and data to commissioners to support commissioning, and the monitoring of outcomes, and the building of capacity and capability in sexual and reproductive health commissioning. The Department's publication, ‘A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England’, is kept under review. There are no plans to update it at this time.

General Practitioners

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on how many days locum GPs have been employed in each clinical commissioning group in England in each year since 2013.

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of GP locums in each clinical commissioning group in England in each year since 2013.

Steve Brine: The requested information is not held centrally. General practitioners are independent contractors who have discretion on the number and type of staff they employ in their practices to assist in the delivery of primary medical services.

Respiratory System: Diseases

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted via accident and emergency departments with a primary diagnosis for a respiratory condition in age groups (a) under one, (b) one to four, (c) five to nine, (d) 10 to 14, (e) 15 to 19, (f) 20 to 24, (g) 25 to 29, (h) 30 to 34, (i) 35 to 39, (j) 40 to 44, (k) 45 to 49, (l) 50 to 54, (m) 55 to 59, (n) 60 to 64, (o) 65 to 69, (p) 70 to 74, (q) 75 to 79, (r) 80 to 84 and (s) 85 and over in each month of the financial years (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14, (v) 2014-15, (vi) 2015-16 and (vii) 2016-17 to date.

Mr Philip Dunne: A table showing a count of unplanned accident and emergency attendances resulting in an admission and a primary diagnosis of respiratory condition, tabulated by month and age category for the financial years between 2010-11 and 2016-17 is attached. This is a count of hospital attendances resulting in admissions, not individual patients as the same person may have been admitted into a National Health Service hospital on more than one occasion.



PQ109518 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 42.83 KB)

Dental Services: Contracts

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2017 to Question 105147, on dental services: contracts, what the total value of undelivered contracted units of orthodontic activity in England was in each year from 2010 to 2017.

Steve Brine: The attached table shows the total value of undelivered contracted units of orthodontic activity in England for each year from 2010 to 2017.



PQ110056 attached table
(Word Document, 15.2 KB)

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Companies: Scotland

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Scottish Limited Partnerships have been fined since the People with Significant Control register came into force.

Margot James: No Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs) have been fined since the People with Significant Control (PSC) register came into force.Compliance is Companies House's primary aim, rather than prosecution. It is taking action to ensure that all SLPs report their PSC information. Where SLPs do not comply, Companies House will consider what further action to take. Cases may be passed to enforcement agencies who will, where appropriate, conduct a criminal investigation, possibly resulting in prosecution.

Domestic Appliances: Testing

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for the introduction of mandatory portable appliance testing for residential properties.

Margot James: The Government has no plans to introduce mandatory testing for portable appliances in residential properties.The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 require suppliers of electrical equipment to supply only safe products.In addition, the legislation requires manufacturers of electrical products to monitor their products on the market. Should they identify unsafe equipment, they must take immediate corrective action to make the equipment safe, withdraw it or recall it. Enforcement authorities also have powers to require a manufacturer to take corrective action, including by requiring withdrawal or recall of unsafe products.

Social Services: Working Hours

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department changed its guidance on sleep-in shifts to state that a worker who was asleep could be deemed to be working up to and above national living wage; and when local authorities and care providers were informed of that change.

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when guidance on the interpretation of national minimum wage rules relating to overnight sleep-in care including access to additional funding was issued to (a) local authority care commissioners, (b) HM Revenue and Customs and (c) care providers.

Margot James: The legislation determining when employers should pay the minimum wage for sleeping time remains unchanged since legislation was first introduced in 1998. Court and employment tribunal judgments have, over time, helped to clarify the position on what constitutes “work” in connection with sleeping time and therefore when the minimum wage is payable for sleep-in shifts. Government guidance was adapted in February 2015 following judgments to clarify that point. The guidance has always been freely available on Government websites. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure that they pay their workers according to the law, including the National Minimum Wage regulations. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not offer guidance to social care providers regarding additional funding.

National Grid: Privatisation

Mr Simon Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits for consumers of national grid privatisation.

Richard Harrington: Network costs are now 17 per cent lower than at the time of privatisation (excluding inflation). Operating efficiency has increased, for example, real unit operating expenditure has fallen by approximately 5.5 per cent, per annum across the electricity distribution networks since privatisation. Capital investment in the electricity networks is higher on average than the period immediately prior to privatisation. The improvements this paid for have reduced power cuts by around 40 per cent since 2002. There are also record levels of customer satisfaction with local electricity and gas distribution networks.

Ministry of Defence

Navy

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how he defines the term growing Royal Navy.

Sir Michael Fallon: The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review committed to growing the Royal Navy for the first time in a generation. The future fleet will include the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, the first of which is at sea conducting trials; the Type 45 destroyers; the Type 26 frigates, steel for the first of which was cut in July; Type 31e frigates; the next generation Dreadnought submarines; the Astute Class submarines, and five new Offshore Patrol Vessels. In addition, a shipbuilding programme is under way to deliver four Tide Class tankers, the first of which, Royal Fleet Auxiliary TIDESPRING, joins the operational fleet later this year, as well as three new Future Solid Support Ships. We will also increase Naval Service personnel numbers by 400 to 30,600 by 2025.

European Fighter Aircraft

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the recommended level of spare parts held by the armed forces for the UK's Typhoon squadrons is.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the level of spare parts held by the armed forces for the UK's Typhoon squadrons was at the latest date for which figures are available.

Harriett Baldwin: Since August 2016, the RAF Typhoon fleet has been supported through the Typhoon Total Availability eNterprise contract (TyTAN). This is based on contracting for availability and provides sufficient spare parts to support the current forward available fleet and operational plan. Typhoon EJ200 engines continue to be supported by the Partnered Support Operational Phase 3 (PSOP3) availability contract. The current level of spare parts for the Typhoon fleet remains at a sufficient level to support the TyTAN and PSOP3 contracts and is shown below. The spares inventory will fluctuate over time as availability is proactively managed.   QuantityTyphoon Airframe Inventory Spares12,850Engines EJ200Uninstalled118Installed222

European Fighter Aircraft

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent by his Department and the armed services on Typhoon spare parts in each financial year since 2010-11.

Harriett Baldwin: The cost of spare parts for Typhoon for each financial year (FY) since 2010-11 is shown below: FY£ million2010-1135.92011-1241.42012-1345.82013-1456.62014-1563.12015-1663.42016-1743.4

RFA Tidesurge

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of transporting the Lady Sponsor and accompanying guests to South Korea for the naming ceremony for RFA Tidesurge on 1 September 2017.

Harriett Baldwin: The total cost to the Ministry of Defence of transporting the Lady Sponsor, Mrs Woodcock, her husband, the 2nd Sea Lord, Vice-Admiral Jonathan Woodcock and his Military Assistant, to the naming ceremony of Royal Fleet Auxiliary TIDESURGE on 29 August 2017 was £5,488.Costs of accommodation and transfers within the Republic of Korea were funded separately under the contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

Red Arrows

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on which dates the Red Arrows display team last performed in (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Jordan, (c) Kuwait, (d) Qatar, (e) Oman, (f) Bahrain and (g) the United Arab Emirates; how many personnel from his Department attended each such performance; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such performance.

Harriett Baldwin: The Red Arrows and their support team recently completed a highly successful tour of the Middle East. The table below shows the date of the last display by named country, together with the number of additional personnel from the Department at individual events. The Red Arrows did not conduct any displays in the United Arab Emirates.  CountryDate of Last DisplayNo. of MOD Personnel in AttendanceSaudi Arabia11 October 201710Jordan23 September 20171Kuwait28 September 20177Qatar30 September 201711Oman3 October 20177Bahrain8 October 20176United Arab EmiratesNilNil The cost of the tour was primarily funded from within the Red Arrows flying hours allocation for Financial Year 2017-18. Costings for individual displays are not held in the format requested.

Hawk Aircraft

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the decision to extend the out-of-service date for the Hawk T1 aircraft was made.

Harriett Baldwin: The Hawk T1 fleet has undergone various upgrade and life extension programmes since delivery. The out-of-service date has been calculated with regards to the usual fleet management processes in place on the large remaining fleet of Hawk T1.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency or replacement policy his Department has in place if any F-35 variant is lost during operations.

Harriett Baldwin: We are buying sufficient numbers of F-35B aircraft to meet our requirements. A decision on whether or not to acquire replacement aircraft would be taken in the light of circumstances at the time.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Department for Communities and Local Government: Advertising

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2017 to Question 3402, if he will publish the scoring and evaluation conducted by his Department of its social media advertising campaigns since January 2016.

Mr Marcus Jones: Since January 2016, the Department for Communities and Local Government’s social media advertising has been used to support delivery of the government’s priorities of supporting increased homeownership and informing voters of the regional mayoral elections held in May 2017.As with all government communications, social media advertising is evaluated as part of overall campaign delivery to ensure objectives are met and provides value for money.Based on independent evaluation of the homeownership campaign activity:Awareness of the campaign on homeownership rose from 32 per cent to 43 per cent.As a result of seeing our advertising, 41 per cent claimed to have taken action with 62 per cent reported they are saving for a deposit (up from 55) and 33 per cent said they are likely to use a government home-buying scheme to buy a home in the next 4 years.Of council tenants who were aware of the Right to Buy element of this campaign, 46 per cent went on to take further action as a result of the campaign. Those reporting they would use the scheme in the next 4 years rose from 26 per cent to 37 per cent.On the mayoral election campaign:There was a 15 per cent increase in awareness of the elections among the target audience.420,000 web page views(www.gov.uk/ourmayor), and 12,000 users engaged and visited the register to vote page to take further action.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children who previously lived in Grenfell Tower are living in hotel accommodation as of 9 October 2017.

Alok Sharma: The latest information we have from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council shows that there is a total of 202 households from Grenfell Tower and Walk that need rehousing. To date 61 households have accepted permanent accommodation and 54 households have accepted temporary accommodation.The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council is working urgently to move all families affected by the Grenfell tragedy into temporary or settled accommodation at the earliest opportunity., The Department for Communities and local government is working to support the Council in achieving this.For each family, we will respect their wishes and give them the time and space to make this transition at their own pace, and in a way that best supports them to recover from this tragedy.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many households that previously lived in Grenfell Tower are living in (a) permanent new homes, (b) temporary accommodation or (c) hotels as of 9 October 2017.

Alok Sharma: DCLG is working closely with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to support them in ensuring that residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk will be provided with a new home in social housing within the period of one year. London local authorities and housing associations have been proactive in offering accommodation and help to assist. However, it is important to get this right and ensure survivors have choice over their housing options.Data we have received from the Council, as of 30 October 2017, show that, of the households that previously lived in Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk:26 were living in permanent accommodation;47 were living in temporary accommodation; and130 were living in emergency accommodation.

Radicalism: Research

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) published since May 2010 on citizenship and public attitudes towards extremism.

Mr Marcus Jones: We do not commission external research on citizenship or public attitudes towards extremism, although we do consider academic work, that produced by think tanks and trusted community organisations as well as that provided by the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) and by the Extremism Analysis Unit. We have also published some data from the Citizenship Survey relating to this topic between July 2010 and September 2011.

Local Plans

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local planning authorities in England have not (a) published, (b) submitted and (c) adopted a local plan as of October 2017.

Alok Sharma: As we set out in the Housing White Paper Fixing our broken housing market too few places have an up-to-date plan. At the end of September 2017, 71 (21 per cent) of the 338 local planning authorities had not yet adopted a Local Plan despite having had over twelve years to do so. Of these 71 authorities there are 36 (11 per cent) who still need to submit a plan and a further 29 (9 per cent) who still need to publish. Since the National Planning Policy Framework was published five years ago in March 2012 186 (55 per cent) of authorities have not adopted a new plan.The Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 put beyond doubt the requirement for all areas to be covered by a plan. Proposals in the Housing White Paper Fixing our broken housing market will make plans easier to produce and emphasise the importance of keeping them up to date

Recreation Spaces

Leo Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to mitigate the potential effects of local planning authorities implementing the Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space policy in urban boroughs where the only green space available is already in use for leisure facilities.

Alok Sharma: Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANGS) is provided and managed to mitigate harmful effects of new housing developments on European sites protected under the Habitats Regulations 2010. SANGS provides recreational space for local residents, diverting them away from protected sites.Where there is limited green space available, Natural England positively encourage the use of existing leisure facilities if they are seen as meeting the requirements to provide Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace.

Local Government: Publications

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on which local authorities publish magazines or newsletters for the public more than four times a year.

Mr Marcus Jones: We do not have exact figures on this but I am aware that a small number of local authorities continue to issue their newsletters more frequently than the Publicity Code says they should.

Fire Prevention

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence between his Department and the Local Government Association on fire safety in the last 3 months.

Alok Sharma: To provide all the correspondence between my Department and the Local Government Association, on fire safety in the last 3 months, would place a disproportionate cost on the Department.

Community Relations: Islam

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which faith and regeneration projects the Government works with to meet recommendation one of the Government Response to the Women and Equalities Committee Report on Employment Opportunities for Muslims in the UK, published in December 2016, Cm 9371, to rebuild trust with Muslim communities by improving the life chances of disadvantaged communities.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government supports a number of programmes that seek to bring communities together.We are providing £1.65 million in 2017/18 to support the Near Neighbours programme, which has enabled Muslim women to develop a range of employment and life skills. We have funded Nisa-Nashim which brings together Jewish and Muslim women around the themes of business, culture, social action, sports and well-being. In 2015/16 we provided support through a Women’s Empowerment fund to 14 separate projects working with women from isolated and BME communities.The forthcoming integration strategy will further set out how we will support people in more isolated communities and assist women, in particular into the workplace, and teach more people to speak English.

Housing: Sales

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of new houses sold as leasehold properties in each of the last five years.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 24 October 2017



Information on the number of transactions on new build houses where the property was sold as leaseholds is available through Land Registry Price Paid data. This data is available from 1995 onwards.This information can be accessed here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/land-registry-monthly-price-paid-dataThe Department for Communities and Local Government has recently concluded a public consultation, Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market, which sought views on a range of proposed measures to help tackle abuse of the leasehold system including the sale of new build leasehold houses. The responses are being analysed and Government will publish an official response in due course.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2017 to Question 9514, on Grenfell Tower: fires, whether his Department's work with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, the NHS, Public Health England, the voluntary and community sector, wider government and those providing care to people and children affected by the Grenfell Tower fire is predicated on World Health Organisation do not harm principles; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The principle of ‘do no harm’ is fundamental to medical good practice and embraced by all health workers providing care to Grenfell survivors and others affected by the fire. The Government has established a structure and process that bring together the different parts of the public and voluntary sectors to coordinate and provide the services identified as fundamental to supporting their recovery. This includes emotional as well as rehousing, financial and practical support.

Private Rented Housing

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the level of rent increases in the private rented sector in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018 in England.

Alok Sharma: The Office for National Statistics publish an experimental Index of Private Housing Rental Prices which is available at: www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/indexofprivatehousingrentalprices/september2017

Housing: Construction

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on the Accelerated Construction programme.

Alok Sharma: I refer the Hon Member for Bristol North West to the answer I gave to Question UIN 108557 on 27 October 2017.

Derelict Land: North of England

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of new residential properties have been built on brownfield sites in the North of England in each year since 2015.

Alok Sharma: The following new residential addresses were created in the former Government Office Regions within the North of England in 2015-16:Former Government Office RegionNumber on previously-developed landNumber on non-previously developed landTotal% on previously developed landNorth East5,2685,15510,42351North West15,26511,53326,79857Statistics of new residential addresses created in 2016-17 will be available in January 2018.

Housing: North West

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities in the North West region have chosen to build fewer houses than set out in their Objectively Assessed Need.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many housing targets have been set by (a) Bolton and (b) Wigan local authorities under Objectively Assessed Need plans.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of homes have been built in (a) Bolton and (b) Wigan under Objectively Assessed Need plans.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities in (a) the North West region and (b) England have (i) adopted an Objectively Assessed Need (OAN) plan, (ii) chosen to build fewer homes than their OAN and (iii) chosen to build the full OAN.

Alok Sharma: The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to plan to meet the objectively assessed housing needs of their area.Where an authority is unable to meet its need locally, it is expected to work with neighbouring authorities through the duty to co-operate to determine whether the unmet need can be met across the wider area.Bolton’s current Local Plan, adopted in March 2011, sets an average annual housing target of 694 dwellings per annum. Wigan’s existing Local Plan, adopted in September 2013, has an average annual housing target of 1,000 dwellings per annum.The Department publishes information on the number of net new dwellings developed in each local authority every year. This may be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing (table 122). This table shows that the number of net additions for Bolton and Wigan for 2015/16 were 510 and 640 respectively.A table setting out existing Local Plan targets, where known, and their delivery in 2015/16 for authorities in North West England is set out below.Local authority2015/16 Net Additional Dwellings (per annum)Current Plan Target (per annum)Cheshire East15701800Cheshire West and Chester17701100Halton540552Warrington600-Allerdale380304Barrow in Furness90-Carlisle500565Copeland130277Eden260239South Lakeland330400Bolton510694Bury340-Manchester17603333Oldham260289Rochdale310460Salford1100-Stockport320495Tameside590-Trafford360578Wigan6401000Blackburn with Darwen100625Blackpool250280Burnley210-Chorley610417Fylde300-Hyndburn100213Lancaster480700Pendle130298Preston480507Ribble Valley300280Rossendale120247South Ribble430417West Lancashire300324Wyre320-Knowsley290450Liverpool2020-Sefton-190640St Helens580570Wirral500- The Government expects local authorities to review their plans regularly to ensure that they are kept up-to-date. The Mayor of Manchester is currently preparing a Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, which includes Bolton and Wigan.

Green Belt: Greater Manchester

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of land in (a) Bolton, (b) Wigan and (c) Greater Manchester has been designated green belt land.

Alok Sharma: As of 31 March 2017, the following percentages of land were designated as Green Belt in Bolton, Wigan and Greater Manchester:Bolton52Wigan57Greater Manchester47

Social Rented Housing: Audit

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1002, on Grenfell Tower, what plans he has to audit the management, operation, facilities and safety of all social housing.

Alok Sharma: Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, the Government has established a comprehensive Building Safety Programme with the aim of ensuring that high-rise residential buildings are safe, and that residents feel safe in them.We have identified all Aluminium Composite Material cladding likely to constitute a significant fire hazard on social housing buildings in England over 18 metres in height; we are working with local authorities and housing associations to ensure that interim measures are in place to guarantee the safety of residents, and that there is a clear remediation plan for each affected building.   We have also asked local authorities to identify such cladding systems on privately-owned residential tower blocks, using their powers under the Housing Act 2004 as appropriate, to ensure necessary action is being taken to ensure residents’ safety, and to report their findings to government.The Secretary of State has also appointed an Independent Expert Advisory Panel which is considering what further steps can be taken to ensure the safety of residents, and will provide further advice to building owners in due course.In addition, the Government has announced an independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which is being led by Dame Judith Hackitt. It is expected that the review will present an interim report before the end of the year, and a final report by April 2018.Alongside the Building Safety Programme, we are committed to bringing forward a Green Paper on social housing. I am meeting tenants and landlords of social housing across England to hear their views, and the resulting Green Paper will be a wide-ranging review of the issues.

Leasehold

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that new build homes are sold on as leasehold properties.

Alok Sharma: The Government’s consultation, Tackling Unfair Practices in the Leasehold Market, considered a number of issues within the leasehold sector including the sale of new built leasehold houses, and onerous ground rents. The consultation also sought views on what further areas of leasehold reform should be prioritised and why. The public consultation, which closed on 19 September, received around 6,000 replies. We are carefully analysing the responses, and will issue the Government response in due course.

High Rise Flats: Repairs and Maintenance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, what the total estimated cost to the public purse is of the work on those buildings identified as requiring remedial measures.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, what the total estimated cost to the public purse is of the work on those buildings identified as requiring interim measures.

Alok Sharma: Requested remedial works are a matter for the building owner as the responsible person for ensuring fire safety in any building. The building owner should consider professional advice on the specific circumstances of their building.We continue to work closely with building owners and with industry to assess the scale of necessary remediation work and to support the delivery of the work.We have been clear with councils and housing associations that we expect them to fund measures that they determine to be essential to make a building fire safe and they should draw on existing resources to do so. However, if councils have concerns, they should get in touch with the Government. Housing associations that are concerned about their ability to meet these costs should contact the social housing regulator.

High Rise Flats: Safety

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, how many tower block buildings, as part of the Government's building safety programme, have been (a) tested, (b) confirmed as fire safe and needing no interim or remedial measures, (c) confirmed as needing interim measures and (d) confirmed as needing remedial measures.

Alok Sharma: Fire and rescue services have visited all affected Aluminium Composite Material clad high-rise residential buildings in the social sector to advise building owners on the interim measures that should be in place. The Building Safety Programme is continuing to work closely with building owners to ensure steps are in place to deliver interim and longer term remedial action.Our testing programme at the British Research Establishment has identified 274 residential and public buildings over 18 metres with Aluminium Composite Material cladding in England. Of these, 262 have cladding systems which the Expert Panel advises are unlikely to meet current Building Regulations guidance and therefore could present fire hazards.Building owners have also been advised to seek professional advice on what further steps they should take with respect to their cladding systems, based on the specific circumstances of their buildings, to ensure that their buildings are safe. The results of the wall system tests conducted at the Building Research Establishment can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-update-and-consolidated-advice-for-building-owners-following-large-scale-testing.

High Rise Flats: Safety

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, how many of the buildings in the Government's building safety programme are operated or owned by (a) local authority, (b) housing association and (c) private sector landlords.

Alok Sharma: Please refer to the 'Dear Colleagues' letter, sent to all MPs, from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (dated 25 October 2017) for the latest information on buildings with cladding which is likely to present a fire hazard on buildings over 18 metres, which have been identified through the Building Safety Programme.

High Rise Flats: Safety

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, how many of his Department's officials have been allocated tower block buildings to follow as part of his Department's monitoring of the building safety programme.

Alok Sharma: My Department does not keep records of the number of staff working on particular tasks as they work on a wide range of projects. Appropriate and sufficient resources are being allocated to both the Building Safety Programme and the Grenfell Tower Recovery Unit to make sure that all the necessary work takes place. We will continue to do so as long as is necessary.Building safety programme officials are in regular and ongoing contact with local authorities, housing associations, private owners and residents of tower block buildings. Officials in the Department are also in touch with every building owner who has had testing carried out and for whom it has failed.

High Rise Flats: Safety

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, what has been the increase in the number of officials in his Department working on (a) the building safety programme and (b) other work related to the Grenfell Tower fire since that work commenced.

Alok Sharma: My Department does not keep records of the number of staff working on particular tasks as they work on a wide range of projects. Appropriate and sufficient resources are being allocated to both the Building Safety Programme and the Grenfell Tower Recovery Unit to make sure that all the necessary work takes place. We will continue to do so for as long as is necessary.

High Rise Flats: Repairs and Maintenance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, how many buildings identified as needing remedial measures have had that work (a) started and (b) completed.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 October 2017, Official Report, column 1001, on Grenfell Tower, how many buildings identified as needing interim measures have had that work (a) started and (b) completed.

Alok Sharma: Fire and rescue services have visited all affected Aluminium Composite Material clad high-rise residential buildings in the social sector to advise building owners on the interim measures that should be in place. The Building Safety Programme is continuing to work closely with building owners to ensure steps are in place to deliver interim and longer term remedial action.

Letting Agents: Fees and Charges

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans for the provisions of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 relating to client money protection to come into force.

Alok Sharma: The Government is committed to making membership of a Client Money Protection scheme mandatory for letting and managing agents to ensure that tenants and landlords get the financial protection they want and deserve. A consultation seeking views on the detail of implementation was launched on 1 November ahead of bringing legislation forward.

Mayors: Sheffield

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has sought legal advice on the appointment of a Sheffield City Region mayor.

Jake Berry: Parliament has legislated both for the election of a Sheffield City Region mayor and for the rules for the conduct of any such election. It is for those responsible for the conduct of an election to seek their own legal advice as they consider necessary.

Temporary Accommodation: Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of children in temporary accommodation in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 30 October 2017



Temporary accommodation ensures that no child is left without a roof over their head.My Deparment publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention and relief in England. These are published at a local authority level. Statistics for each of the past five years can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.

Social Rented Housing: Disability

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department publishes for (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations on providing a safe means of exit for disabled residents in the event of an emergency.

Alok Sharma: In 2010 the Department funded the Local Government Association to develop guidance on fire safety in purpose built blocks flats, which includes specific advice on ensuring the safety of disabled people and means of escape in the event of a fire. This was published in 2011 and is available at: https://www.local.gov.uk/fire-safety-purpose-built-flats.Approved Document B (Fire Safety) provides guidance on securing reasonable standards of health and safety of persons in and about buildings. This is intended to include all people including people with disabilities. However, as set out paragraph 0.19 this also recognises that the needs of some disabled people will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.The Government is committed to helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely at home. The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is a means-tested grant which can contribute towards meeting the cost of adapting an older or disabled person’s property, including to improve access (for example, through widening doorframes). Since 2012-13 the Government has invested over £1.6 billion into the DFG, providing around 250,000 adaptations. The grant is £431 million this year, rising to £468m next year, and will be over £500 million by 2020.

Private Rented Housing: Safety

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Local Government Association on improving standards of (a) electrical and (b) gas safety in the private rented sector.

Alok Sharma: Following Royal Assent of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, a Working Group of relevant experts, including the Local Government Association, was established to provide recommendations to Ministers on what, if any, legislative requirements for electrical safety in the private rented sector should be introduced. The Working Group met four times, in August, October, November and December 2016. The working group has now concluded and Ministers are considering its report and recommendations.A recent consultation by the Health and Safety Executive on The Gas Safety (Installations and Use) Regulations 1998 involved an assessment of the adequacy of landlords’ gas safety checks. This assessment and other evidence confirmed that the regulatory requirements for these checks are sufficient to ensure safety.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Procurement

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2017 to Question 107742, on Department for Communities and Local Government: procurement, how many project managers employed by his Department have the authority to authorise projects of a value in excess of £10,000.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 30 October 2017



No one individual (i.e. a Project Manager) in the Department has the authority to authorise projects which have a financial implication..Individual payments over £10,000 must be authorised by a senior civil servant in accordance with the Department’s financial delegation framework:

Fire Prevention: Inspections

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has received any representations from fire authorities on the frequency of fire warden visits in a local authority.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 31 October 2017



No such representations have been made to ministers. To ascertain whether or not individual members of staff have received such representations would incur disproportionate cost.

Leasehold: Reform

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring forward legislation to reform leasehold; and if he will make  a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Government’s consultation, Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market, considered a number of issues within the leasehold sector including the sale of new built leasehold houses, and onerous ground rents. The consultation also sought views on what further areas of leasehold reform should be prioritised and why.The public consultation, which closed on 19 September, received around 6,000 replies. We are carefully analysing the responses, and will issue the Government's response in due course.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 September 2017, Official Report, column 76, on Grenfell Tower, if he will publish details of the local authorities that have contacted his Department on funding for remedial work.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 31 October 2017



We have been contacted by thirty two local authorities and that seven of these are in the process of providing more detail after initial conversations. It is a matter for local authorities to communicate with their residents what work is being proposed, and as such I cannot release the details of specific local authorities.We have been clear that we expect building owners to fund fire safety measures, but councils should contact us if they have any concerns about funding fire safety works. Where works are necessary to ensure the fire safety of a building, we will ensure that lack of financial resources will not prevent them going ahead.

Leasehold

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that freeholders offer leaseholders the first option to purchase that freehold; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Government’s consultation, Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market, considered a number of issues within the leasehold sector including the sale of new built leasehold houses, and onerous ground rents. The consultation also sought views on what further areas of leasehold reform should be prioritised and why.The public consultation, which closed on 19 September, received around 6,000 replies. We are carefully analysing the responses, and will issue the Government response in due course.

HM Treasury

Revenue and Customs: Aberdeen

Ross Thomson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse from the proposed closure of the Ruby House HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office in Aberdeen; and what account was taken in making the decision to close that office of the potential effect of that proposed closure on HMRCs' ability to collect tax.

Ross Thomson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed closure of the Ruby House HM Revenue and Customs office in Aberdeen on the local economy.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Locations Programme will save more than £300 million up to 2025, and will deliver annual cash savings of £74 million in 2025/26, rising to more than £90m by 2028. Moving to Regional Centres will also deliver benefits to tax collection and customer service. The Locations Programme will bring teams together in large offices, enabling them to work together to tackle fraud and evasion, irrespective of where it occurs. The benefits have therefore been considered as a whole and not in isolation of an individual office. HMRC is prioritising its commitment to maximising tax revenue, increasing compliance and reducing the tax gap.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Israel

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to develop and increase future trade with Israel.

Mark Garnier: I refer the hon Member for Strangford to the answer I gave him on 6 July, UIN: 2645.

Overseas Students

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Education, (b) Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (c) Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and (d) Home Affairs on (i) higher education exports and (ii) encouraging overseas students to study in the UK.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which Government departments will be represented on the education sector advisory board to be chaired by the Minister of State from his Department.

Mark Garnier: The Department for Education will be a standing member of the DIT Education Sector Advisory Board. Other Government Departments, including the Department for International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Home Office will be invited depending on the agenda for each meeting. The Government recognises the benefit that education exports bring to the UK and this Group will support the aspirations of the sector internationally. DIT liaises regularly across Whitehall departments in support of growth in higher education exports. The Government actively champions study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and through the British Council which promotes the UK in over 100 countries. The UK attracts high numbers of overseas students, second only to the USA in terms of our market share, and there continues to be no limit to the number who can come here to study.

Women and Equalities

Abortion Act 1967: Anniversaries

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will publish the events that she and Ministers at the Government Equalities Office attended to mark the 50th anniversary of passing of the Abortion Act.

Anne Milton: My Rt hon. Friend, the Minister for Women and Equalities has not attended any events to mark the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act. Government Equalities Office Ministers, including myself and My Rt hon. Friend, the Minister of State for School Standards and Minister for Equalities, have not attended any such events either.

Disability

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans her Department has to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December 2017.

Nick Gibb: This Government supports a wide range of policies to remove inequalities for people with disabilities. The Department for International Development is currently reviewing proposals for various events to mark the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Department for Transport

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the completion of the electrification of the rail line between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Meads.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the completion of electrification of the rail line between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Meads.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will undertake an assessment of the potential effect on levels of air pollution in Bath of the (a) completion and (b) non-completion of rail electrification between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Meads.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail is delivering the Great Western Electrification Programme to the dates set out in the latest publication of their Enhancement Delivery plan. This includes completing electrification of the Great Western Mainline by the end of CP5. The National Audit Office’s report states that electrification is now expected to cost £2.8 billion. The Department does not hold cost details for electrification between these specific stations. This information is held by Network Rail. Environmental consideration of air pollution is taken into account as part of the business case for electrification of the Great Western Route.

South Western Railway: Timetables

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on commuters from Hook and Winchfield of the proposed reduction in morning peak-period services in South Western Railway's new timetable.

Paul Maynard: South Western Railway (SWR) launched their consultation for the December 2018 timetable on 29 September 2017, and it will run until 22 December 2017. This timetable consultation is a major step on South Western Railway’s journey towards the delivery of improvements to services that we know customers want to see. The Department is aware of the current proposals for a reduction in AM peak calls at Hook and Winchfield made in SWR’s consultation document.These changes are discussed in further detail on SWR’s timetable consultation webpage: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/timetable-consultationHowever, I must stress that this is still a live consultation and no decision has been made yet. SWR will welcome your comments on this revised proposal and whether passengers support it, as your feedback will be used to shape the final timetable.

Community Transport: Licensing

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential effect on the viability of community transport organisations of the requirement for them as section 19 permit operators not to charge anyone and to require all drivers to have a PSV O-licence.

Jesse Norman: Within the existing legal framework, the Department wants as many community transport providers as possible to continue to operate, and retain, service provision for vulnerable community transport passengers. The Department will consult on this issue and set out the changes proposed to legislation as well as guidance on the use of section 19 permits. The consultation will contain an impact assessment and the effect of the changes to the regulatory regime which will form part of our considerations.

Community Transport: Licensing

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an estimate of the cost to community transport organisations of ensuring that all their drivers have a PSV O-licence; and whether that requirement will effect their charitable status due to the capital reserve requirement involved.

Jesse Norman: Within the existing legal framework, the Department wants as many community transport providers as possible to continue to operate, and retain, service provision for vulnerable community transport passengers. The Department will consult on this issue and set out the changes for operators complying with the proposed to legislation as well as guidance on the use of section 19 permits, including the financial standing requirement. The consultation will contain an impact assessment and the effect of the changes to the regulatory regime will form part of our considerations. The Department does not envisage a requirement to obtain a PSV operating licence will affect whether or not an organisation has charitable status.

Railways: Finance

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press release of 12 October 2017, when his Department plans to announce how the new £48 billion funding for Britain's railways will be allocated.

Paul Maynard: The independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), will determine the funding that Network Rail requires to deliver efficiently the outputs the Government set out in its High Level Output Specification (HLOS) for Control Period 6 (2019 – 2024) in July 2017 (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-07-20/HCWS86/). ORR will scrutinise Network Rail’s proposed Strategic Business Plans for Control Period 6 in early 2018 and will consult stakeholders on its draft determination on Network Rail’s outputs and funding for Control Period 6 in June 2018. ORR will publish its final determination in October 2018. The HLOS was focused on operations, maintenance and renewals outputs. The Government is developing a new process for the funding and delivery of enhancements. We will publish more information on this later in the year.

First Class Partnerships

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has commissioned any work from First Class Partnerships; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard: The Department has commissioned a number of reports from First Class Partnerships.

M6: Air Pollution

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of air quality on the M6 between junctions 9 and 10a; and what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the effect of traffic on air quality on that section of that road.

Jesse Norman: Highways England undertook an air quality monitoring survey for six months between February and July 2015 on this section of the M6 for Nitrogen Dioxide. This survey has been utilised as part of the assessment of the M6 Junction 10 improvement scheme promoted by both Highways England and Walsall Council. An Environmental Statement which was undertaken for the improvement scheme involved undertaking air quality modelling to predict the impact of the Scheme on air quality. The full assessment can be viewed on Walsall Councils planning website (https://go.walsall.gov.uk/planningm6j10). Walsall have developed an air quality action plan as part of its duties to improve air quality; the M6 between junctions 9 and 10a is within Walsall Council’s Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). Highways England will support local authorities as they explore options for their local air quality plans.

Railways: North of England

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase capacity on popular train routes between London and (a) Chester, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) major cities in the North of England.

Paul Maynard: We are committed to investing in infrastructure and we have been and continue to work on increasing rail capacity. On the West Coast Main Line, the conversion of 21 first class carriages to standard class has added more than 5,000 standard class seats a day, and the West Coast Partnership competition presents an opportunity to further increase capacity on the route. Upgrades to the Midland Main Line will enable increased passenger capacity and reduced journey times between Sheffield and London; there will be almost 50% more seats into London St Pancras in the peak compared to today. Work on the East Coast Main Line will see an 84% increase in seating on services to and from London, with increased service frequency providing additional capacity to Leeds and Newcastle, and new direct services to Middlesbrough and Harrogate. The Government is committed to deliver High Speed Two (HS2). HS2 services will connect London and cities in the North of England including Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Crewe, Sheffield, York and Newcastle. Once completed in 2033, it will more than double the number of seats available out of Euston Station in the evening rush hour, relieving the pressure on commuters. By shifting long-distance services onto the new railway HS2 will also release space on existing routes and provide options for new or additional local, cross-country, commuter and freight services in many areas. The capacity and connectivity benefits associated with the full HS2 network are set out in the Phase Two strategic case, published in July 2017.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629393/high-speed-two-phase-two-strategic-case.pdf

Air Routes: Egypt

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the resumption of flights to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: Although no formal discussions have been held, my Department continues to work closely with international partners on security standards. We look forward to achieving the return of flights once we can be assured that the necessary security environment can be sustained. It is the responsibility for each Government to determine their own advice on where it is safe for their citizens or carriers to fly.

Taxis: Disability

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether proposed statutory guidance on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing will include a requirement for all drivers to undertake disability equality training.

Mr John Hayes: The draft Accessibility Action Plan is currently being consulted upon, the Department will review and consult on best practice guidance for taxi and PHV licensing authorities, which will include strengthened recommendations on supporting accessible services. The statutory guidance issued under section 177 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 will not include a requirement for all taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to undertake disability equality training as this is beyond the scope of the legislation which is to “protect children, and vulnerable individuals who are 18 or over, from harm.”

Crossrail Line: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of accessibility for disabled people planned for Crossrail stations.

Paul Maynard: When fully open from December 2019, all of the stations on the Elizabeth line will be step-free to platform level with clear signage and information to ensure that all passengers can get around the stations quickly and easily.

Railway Stations: Access

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a new round of access for all funding to improve railway station access for the disabled and other vulnerable users.

Paul Maynard: The Government’s Statement of Funds Available for Control Period 6 (2019-2024) published on 12 October includes funding for continued investment in the accessibility of the railway. We will confirm the way in which we will deliver improvements to accessibility later in the year.

Marks Tey Station

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of accessibility at Marks Tey railway station.

Paul Maynard: Marks Tey station currently has step free access to both platforms but no step free interchange between them. Much of our station infrastructure is Victorian and is therefore not accessible to many disabled passengers. In recognition of the scale of the problem there has been, over successive administrations, a gradual improvement approach and stations have been selected for funding through a prioritisation and assessment process. All of the available Access for All funding has now been allocated to projects until Spring 2019. We are committed to continuing to invest in the accessibility of the railway after 2019 and will confirm the way in which we will deliver this later in the year.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Social Media

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the letter of 15 September 2017 from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office summarising the findings of the 2017 BPD Audit, for how long data gathered from social media services is held by GCHQ before being deleted; and how large the bulk dataset holding that data is.

Sir Alan Duncan: It is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on intelligence matters.

International Relations: Private Sector

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has provided to private organisations that work to improve the UK's international relations in each of the last five years.

Sir Alan Duncan: As part of the Foreign Office's efforts to imporve the UK's international relations, we work with a number of private organisations. To identify every private organisation we work with from within our 18,000 suppliers would incur disproportionate costs.

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the Governments of Uganda and Kenya to participate in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development-led High-Level Revitalisation Forum.

Rory Stewart: We maintain a close dialogue with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGAD) and key regional actors, including Uganda and Kenya. Through sustained ministerial and senior official engagement, we encourage their continued and vital role in taking forward the Revitalisation Forum. We welcome the IGAD communiqué of 17 October, which noted positive and constructive progress made in initial talks with all significant parties to the conflictThe Forum is a critical opportunity for the restoration of peace in South Sudan. Only dialogue that involves a broad range of actors can bring a lasting resolution. We continue to encourage the Government of South Sudan and the opposition to engage meaningfully.

South Sudan: Arms Trade

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on the alleged involvement of a British company in supplying arms to the Government of South Sudan.

Rory Stewart: The British Government has noted the report by Amnesty International, and takes very seriously the allegations on the role of a UK company in the sale of arms to South Sudan. We have not authorised the supply of arms to South Sudan.The British Government takes its arms export control responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. We do not licence the supply of equipment that would be in breach of an arms embargo, which would provoke or prolong armed conflicts, or aggravate tensions or conflicts, or if there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression.The UK is strongly opposed to the sale of weapons to South Sudan and has consistently called for a UN arms embargo to be implemented with immediate effect, which would prevent any sale of arms to South Sudan globally.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department plans to spend on preparations for no deal being reached in negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Sir Alan Duncan: Holding answer received on 31 October 2017



Like all departments, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is planning for a number of EU exit scenarios to make sure we are ready on day one. Over £250 million of additional funding has been approved across a number of departments in 2017/18 to prepare for Brexit. The FCO has received additional funding this year, and has reprioritised to meet new pressures arising from Brexit preparations. Additional funding received from the reserve for 2017/18 will be set out at Supplementary Estimates. Decisions on funding in future years will be confirmed at a later date.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what funding his Department has allocated as a contingency in the event that no deal is reached in negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Sir Alan Duncan: Like all departments, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is planning for a number of EU exit scenarios to make sure we are ready on day one. Over £250 million of additional funding has been approved across a number of departments in 2017/18 to prepare for Brexit. The FCO has received additional funding this year, and has reprioritised to meet new pressures arising from Brexit preparations. Additional funding received from the reserve for 2017/18 will be set out at Supplementary Estimates. Decisions on funding in future years will be confirmed at a later date.

Gaza: Electricity

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority to rescind its request to Israel to reduce electricity supply to Gaza.

Alistair Burt: We are aware that Israel reduced the power supply to Gaza in June this year following a request from the Palestinian Authority (PA), in the course of a dispute with Hamas. I visited Gaza on 21 August and saw the extent of the electricity crisis first hand. Our Consul-General to Jerusalem raised the humanitarian situation in Gaza with both President Abbas and Prime Minister Hamdallah recently. We welcome the agreement on 2 October setting out plans for the resumption of PA administrative control in Gaza. We have encouraged the Palestinian authorities to ensure that plans are in place for this transition, to meet the needs of the Gazan people and to ease their suffering.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Brexit

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department was consulted by the Department for Exiting the European Union on the economic impact assessments conducted for the UK leaving the EU.

Rory Stewart: The Government is carrying out an ongoing programme of comprehensive analytical work that will inform our negotiating position with the EU, to define our deep and special partnership with the EU, and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks.The Department for International Development is working with officials across government, in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union, to ensure the delivery of a holistic programme of analysis across government.

Overseas Aid

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, under what circumstances the Government would consider increasing the percentage  of GDP allocated to official development assistance above 0.7 per cent.

Rory Stewart: In line with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 the government allocates sufficient funding to deliver the commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI in each calendar year.

Uganda: Refugees

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department plans to take to support the Government of Uganda in supporting refugees in that country.

Rory Stewart: The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to the refugee response in Uganda. Our support is increasing to reflect rising needs from the recent influx of refugees, predominantly from South Sudan. In the coming year, we plan to provide food to more than 900,000 refugees, shelter to 116,000 refugees, access to clean water for more than 212,000 refugees and nutritional support to more than 215,000 children.

Department for International Development: Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference her the oral contribution to the International Development Committee on 24 October 2017, if she will set out the transparency practices used by her Department.

Rory Stewart: DFID’s Annual Report and Accounts, and Statistics on International Development publication, provide annual, comprehensive organisational information to parliament and taxpayers. In addition, DFID publishes detailed project data and documents, details of all payments over £500, and information on programmes, procurement, people and ministerial activity.Our recent Supplier Review introduced new, stringent criteria for transparency of supplier information to drive down costs along supply chains. DFID intends to put even more information in the public domain, including policies on day rates paid to consultants and annual league tables of supplier performance.

Department for Education

Pre-school Education: Vacancies

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of unfilled vacancies there are in private and voluntary-run nurseries and pre-schools; and what steps she is taking to ensure that those vacancies are filled.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but we do not hold data on unfilled vacancies. Employers are responsible for staff recruitment.

Schools: Vocational Guidance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to launch its careers strategy.

Anne Milton: The Government will publish a careers strategy in the autumn. The strategy will have a clear focus on social mobility and will include proposals to improve the quality and coverage of careers advice in schools and colleges and give people the information they need to access training throughout their working lives.

Apprentices: Taxation

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the apprenticeship levy increases social mobility.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to increase apprenticeship enrolment among people from lower-income backgrounds.

Anne Milton: We want to ensure that high quality apprenticeships are as accessible as possible to all people from all backgrounds. Apprenticeships already disproportionately benefit people from lower socio-economic backgrounds with apprentices more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds - compared to the population as a whole, 25 per cent of apprentices live in the most disadvantaged fifth of areas. Our apprenticeship funding policy supports individuals from disadvantaged areas by providing a cash payment to training providers when they train apprentices living in the top 27% of deprived areas.

English language and Mathematics: Standards

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what 50 institutions or providers have the best post-16 catch-up rates in (a) English and (b) mathematics in England; and in which local authority area each of those institutions and providers are located.

Anne Milton: The request has been interpreted as students who are included in the English and maths progress measure. This reports on students who did not achieve A*-C at GCSE or equivalent in English and maths by the end of key stage 4. These students are required to continue studying GCSE English and maths, or other equivalent qualifications from 16 to 18. The measure shows how much progress students have made by looking at the average change in grade. The latest information available for the academic year 2015/16 is published in the data tables for ‘All schools and colleges in England’ on the 16-18 performance tables’[1]. The English and maths progress measure can be found in the ’16 to 18 performance’ section. The underlying data for both institution level and local council can be found in the ‘Download data for all of England or a local authority’[2]. [1] The 2015/16 performance tables and English and maths progress scores can be found here https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&geographic=all&region=0&phase=16to18&for=16to18&basedon=%20English%20and%20maths.[2] The underlying data for 16-18 performance tables can be found here https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data?currentstep=datatypes&regiontype=all&la=0&downloadYear=2015-2016&datatypes=ks5.

Teachers: East Midlands

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early years teachers in the East Midlands who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early years teachers in the West Midlands who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early years teachers in the North East who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early years teachers in Yorkshire and the Humber who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but the information requested is not available as the department does not collect individual level data on qualified early-years staff.

Teachers: North West

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified teachers in the North West who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not available in the format requested. The retention rates for qualified teachers in England who began their employment in each of the last five years were published in Table 8 of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ in June 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016. Regional versions of these statistics are not available. The Department has published information at regional level on the percentage of teachers who leave each year. These statistics were published in tables 2.1a and 2.1b in the ‘Local analysis of teacher workforce: 2010 to 2015’:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-analysis-of-teacher-workforce-2010-to-2015.

Higher Education

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 October 2017, on Opposition Day debates, HCWS199, if she plans to make a statement in response to the resolution of the House on higher education regulations of 13 September 2017.

Joseph Johnson: A Written Ministerial Statement setting out changes to Higher Education Student Finance, HCWS145, was laid before Parliament on 9 October 2017.This statement can be accessed on the Parliament UK website at:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-10-09/HCWS145/.

Teachers: North West

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified teachers in the North West who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified teachers in each local authority in England who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified teachers in the North East who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not available in the format requested. The retention rates for qualified teachers in England who began their employment in each of the last five years were published in Table 8 of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ in June 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016. Regional and local authority versions of these statistics are not available. The Department has published information at regional level on the percentage of teachers who leave each year. These statistics were published in tables 2.1a and 2.1b in the ‘Local analysis of teacher workforce: 2010 to 2015’:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-analysis-of-teacher-workforce-2010-to-2015.

Leader of the House

Opposition Days

Angela Rayner: To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 October 2017, on Opposition Day debates, HCWS199, if that policy applies retrospectively to resolutions of the House passed earlier this Session.

Andrea Leadsom: I confirm that the new convention I announced in the House on 26 October will apply retrospectively to resolutions of the House passed on Opposition Days earlier this Session.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for the introduction of legislative proposals to increase the maximum sentence for animal cruelty offences to five years imprisonment.

George Eustice: On 30 September the Secretary of State announced that the Government would increase the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences from six months’ imprisonment to five years’ imprisonment. This announcement made clear the government will publish draft legislation for consultation around the turn of the year.

Fisheries

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how UK fisheries will be managed after 30 March 2019; whether UK fisheries will be managed out to the Exclusive Economic Zone median line; and whether the UK will apply different rules to the area between the territorial sea and the Exclusive Economic Zone.

George Eustice: When the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019, we will be leaving the Common Fisheries Policy. The UK will become an independent Coastal State and will be fully responsible, under international law, for control of our Exclusive Economic Zone and for management of fisheries resources within it. We will also have obligations to cooperate with the EU and other coastal states to manage shared stocks. Decisions on the precise rules that will apply to the area between the territorial sea and the Exclusive Economic Zone have yet to be determined. However, the Government is clear that we want to be a responsible Coastal State and to have a cooperative relationship with the EU and other Coastal States to ensure the sustainable management of fish stocks.

Fisheries

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to stop the dumping of dead fish in UK waters after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The UK has been working constructively with other EU Member States on the implementation of the EU landing obligation, or discard ban. The discard ban is being phased in from 2015 to 2019, and the Government will continue to make sure that interests of UK fisheries and fleets are reflected in each new set of rules that are being introduced annually up until 1 January 2019. The Government remains committed to ending the wasteful practice of discarding fish after we leave the EU.

Packaging: Recycling

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2017 to Question 107602, on packaging, how many local authorities provide roadside collection of plastic wrap; how many tonnes of plastic wrap has been recycled in each of the last five years; and what proportion of plastic wrap used in the UK was recycled in each year since 2010.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Seventy nine local authorities in the UK provide kerbside collection of mixed plastic film; 70 of these are in England. Information is not held on the proportion of plastic film recycled. From information reported to Defra on local authority collected waste in England in 2015/16, a total of around 7,100 tonnes of low density polyethylene (LDPE) was recycled. LDPE includes plastic film as well as carrier bags and bin liners. We are not able to readily extract the totals for previous years.

Marine Environment: Conservation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary on the role of the UK in demonstrating global leadership on ocean conservation.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Government Departments work in partnership to deliver global leadership on ocean conservation. Our commitment to ocean conservation was most recently demonstrated at the Our Ocean Conference in Malta on 5-6 October and the UN Oceans Conference in June. A list of the commitments made by the United Kingdom at the Malta Conference is available at: https://ourocean2017.org/sites/default/files/ooc-2017-list-of-commitments_en.pdf and the UN Ocean Conference at https://oceanconference.un.org/commitments/ Looking forward, we will use the Commonwealth Summit in 2018 to ensure that ocean issues remain central to future work within the Commonwealth and support the initiative of the Commonwealth Secretary General to develop a “blue charter” for the Commonwealth. We will also continue to push for a new international agreement under the UN for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, which will deliver effective protected areas for the world’s oceans.

Marine Environment: Antarctic

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to further the roll-out of marine sanctuaries in the Antarctic.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra works closely with colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on issues relating to the protection of the Antarctic including the designation of marine protected areas (MPAs). The UK led the proposal to establish an MPA around the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf, agreed in 2009, through the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and strongly supported the designation of the Ross Sea Region MPA. The UK supports proposals for MPAs in the Weddell Sea, East Antarctic and the Antarctic Peninsula regions of the Southern Ocean.

Inland Waterways: Dredging

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of a small- scale cutter dredger brought from the Netherlands by the Environment Agency which operated on waterways in the UK in summer 2017; and what plans he has to use similar equipment on rivers and water courses elsewhere in the UK in future.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The suction dredger was used by the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board (IDB) as part of a demonstration event on the South Forty Foot Drain in Lincolnshire. The watercourse is maintained by the Environment Agency but these works were completed by the IDB using a Public Sector Cooperation Agreement.While it is too early to understand the long term effectiveness of the dredger and the technique, the Environment Agency is interested in the results, to see if it could be effective elsewhere. It will work with the IDB to review the results‎.

Farms: Archaeology

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the archaeological profession on the future of farming policy, particularly with reference to heritage and conservation.

George Eustice: The Secretary of State recently the Chairman and the CEO of The Heritage Alliance to discuss matters including the future of the rural landscape once we leave the European Union.This is part of our ongoing commitment to making sure that the views of all interested groups are considered in the development of our new agricultural policy, which will make sure that public money is spent on public goods, supporting our rural areas and the environment.

Badgers: Bovine Tuberculosis

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of he availability of the BCG vaccine for badgers.

George Eustice: Although the timing of resumption of supplies of the licensed Badger BCG product remains uncertain, we are confident that supplies of an alternative, unlicensed BCG vaccine in 2018 will be sufficient to allow us to resume the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme.

Conservation Board for the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Membership

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many members of the board responsible for Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Conservation Area reside in Cotswold district; and how many members of that board are elected representatives of the residents of Cotswold district.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The number of members of the conservation board responsible for the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) who reside in Cotswold district is as follows:   Of the 14 Secretary of State appointed members: two members currently reside in the Cotswold District Council (CDC) area. One of the two members (although already appointed) has not yet taken up his duties. He will do so on 1 December 2017. Of the 15 local authority members: two members currently reside in the CDC area. The CDC representative resides in the CDC area. A second member, the Gloucestershire County Council representative represents a division within the CDC area and resides in the CDC area. Of the eight parish members: three members reside in the CDC area and represent parishes within the CDC area. The Cotswolds AONB covers a significantly larger geographical area than that of the CDC. The Cotswolds AONB geographical area does not actually include all of the CDC area. This is reflected in the Board’s membership. The current overall membership of the Cotswolds AONB Conservation Board is as follows:  Cotswolds Conservation Board: MembershipSecretary of State Appointed MembersLocal AuthoritiesParish CouncilsTotal1415837

Fly-tipping: Farms

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost incurred by farmers of cleaning up fly tipping on farm land in each of the last three years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not hold information on estimated costs of fly-tipping incidents on farmland. We are working closely with NFU officials, who are active members of the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group, to improve the reporting of fly-tipping on farmland. This will enable local authorities and the Environment Agency to better target enforcement.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department has allocated as a contingency in the event that no deal is reached in negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

George Eustice: Like all departments, Defra is planning for a number of EU Exit scenarios to make sure we are ready on Day 1. Over £250m of additional funding has been approved across a number of departments in 2017/18 to prepare for Brexit. Defra has received additional funding this year, and has reprioritised to meet new pressures arising from Brexit preparations. Additional funding received from the reserve for 2017/8 will be set out at Supplementary Estimates. Decisions on funding in future years will be confirmed at a later date.

Sheep Meat: Shetland

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the protected designated origin status of Shetland lamb in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The Government supports the use of geographical indications (GIs) and will prioritise continued protection for our UK food and drink. The EU rules that currently govern the enforcement of geographical indications will be placed on a UK legal basis through the EU Withdrawal Bill.  Ministers meet regularly in a variety of fora for discussions on such issues.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Foreign Investment in UK

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to his oral contribution of 17 October 2017, Official Report, column 744, on EU Exit negotiations, what the evidential basis is for his statement that UK inward investment is at record levels in the first half of 2017.

Mr Steve Baker: According to official statistics released by the Office for National Statistics on 29 September 2017, total direct investment in the UK from abroad stood at £1.493 trillion in the second quarter of 2017. This is the highest level on record.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Migrant Workers

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many non-British EU nationals have been employed by his Department in each month since it was established.

Mr Steve Baker: All Government departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.The Department does not hold a month by month breakdown for the period requested.

EU Institutions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government will publish its plans to delegate powers and responsibilities currently possessed by EU institutions after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: Our relationship with the EU's institutions, including agencies, upon exit will be evaluated in light of the Government's ambition to achieve a deep and special partnership with the EU and is a matter for the negotiations. The Government will continue to plan for a range of scenarios and be ready to take any necessary steps to ensure that we are ready for exit day.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Brexit

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Attorney General, whether the Law Officers' Departments were consulted by the Department for Exiting the European Union on the economic impact assessments conducted for the UK leaving the EU.

Robert Buckland: The Government is carrying out an ongoing programme of comprehensive analytical work that will inform our negotiating position with the EU, to define our deep and special partnership with the EU and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks.The Law Officers’ Departments are working with officials across government, in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union, to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated programme of analysis across government.

Wales Office

Wales Office: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many non-UK EU nationals are employed by his Department.

Guto Bebb: The Wales Office does not employ staff directly as the Ministry of Justice is the employer. There are no non-UK EU nationals currently assigned to the department.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Antisocial Behaviour

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of incidents of prisoners spitting at prison officers in 2016.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Annual Assaults Statistics published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-december-2016--2 confirm a total of 738 assaults involving spitting. This published figure provides a total number of assaults by spitting in their entirety, including prisoner on prisoner assaults and those committed against other members of staff than Prison Officers.I can confirm that of the 738 recorded assaults, 609 of these were assaults on Prison Officers.

Prisons: Racial Discrimination and Homophobia

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department and its agencies hold on incidence of (a) anti-Semitism, (b) Islamophobia,(c) racism and (d) homophobia by prison guards and prisoners; and how such information is recorded.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Information on such incidents is collected by each prison, and prisons are encouraged to review trends at a local level. We are looking at our prisoner complaint processes including those relating to equality or discrimination issues in light of the recommendations of the Lammy Review into Race in the Criminal Justice System.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to invest in the refurbishment of prisons  in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) HM Prison Liverpool in the next five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Ministry of Justice resource and capital budget for major (centrally funded) investment in existing prison buildings in England and Wales for 2017/18 is £93.7m. Future years’ budget allocations have not yet been confirmed. There are around 175 major capital and resource projects underway or planned to start in 2017/18 or 2018/19 in prisons in England. The table below shows the major capital and resource projects in the North West region (including at HMP Liverpool) underway or planned to start in 2017/18 and 2018/19. Projects are subject to reprioritisation depending on the priorities of the estate and confirmed funding. New projects have not yet been confirmed as included in investment programmes from 2019/20 onwards. Financial YearEstablishmentProject Scope2017-18 (underway or planned to start)GarthReplace heating systemHindleyRe-role works, replacement of heating main, flat roofing and key work building, gym and chapel roofingKirkhamRegime hangars*Lancaster FarmsRe-role worksLiverpoolFire alarm upgrade, gable end repairs to F&I wings, cell door replacementManchesterDDA adaptionsRisleyWorkshop roof replacementStyalRefurbish gate and visitors’ areaThorncrossFire safetyWymottGate controls, workshop roof, A&B wing refurbishment2018-19 (planned to start)HaveriggFire safetyHindleyFire safetyRisleyFire safety The Government stated its ambition for the prison estate transformation programme in the November 2016 Prison Safety and Reform White Paper, which set out that we want a prison estate that is less crowded, better organised, and that is increasingly made up of modern, fit for purpose accommodation. * Regime Hangars are pre-second world war aircraft hangars within the grounds of the prison.

Prisons: Closures

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to close prisons in (a) the North West and (b) England in the next five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We will always have enough prison places for offenders committed to custody by the courts. We are investing £1.3 billion to transform our prison estate and deliver up to 10,000 new places. This includes pushing ahead with plans to close or redevelop older prisons and open new accommodation in this parliament, however, no decisions have been made about future prison closures beyond those which have already been announced.

Liverpool Prison

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the (a) running costs and (b) budget for HM Prison Liverpool in each of the last 12 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), routinely publishes average costs per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year. The most recent published figures for financial year 2016-17 can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2016-to-2017 Individual prison unit costs, including HMP Liverpool’s resource costs, can be found within the Excel document Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment in the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab.

Liverpool Prison

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff at HM Prison Liverpool have suffered injury in each of the last 12 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The table below shows how many injuries to staff there have been at HMP Liverpool in each of the last 12 years. HMP Liverpool200520062007200820092010*Staff Injuries1521401247623116   * Data migrated to electronic systemHMP Liverpool2011201220132014201520162017Staff Injuries209140142174216222119Note: These figures have been drawn from HMP Liverpool’s incident reporting system. Care is taken when recording and processing the incidents, but the data are not independently verified, and the detail collected is subject to the potential for inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale data recording system. We are determined to give officers the tools they need to manage violent offenders – investing £2million in body-worn cameras which will act as a visible deterrent against violence and assist with prosecutions, as well as introducing new style handcuffs and piloting PAVA incapacitant spray. Violence against our dedicated staff will never be tolerated which is why we are supporting legislation to increase sentences for those who attack emergency workers, including prison officers. In addition, more officers on the wings will improve the safety of our prisons. That is why we are investing £100 million to boost the front line. We have already recruited 1,290 extra prison officers over the past year.

Offenders: Mental Illness

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on diverting offenders with mental health problems away from detention in prison.

Dr Phillip Lee: It is important that we intervene early to support people with health needs. Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services are being rolled out across England to identify and provide early intervention for people with mental health problems and other vulnerabilities as soon as they come to the attention of the criminal justice system. Referrals are made to treatment and support services, and information about the person’s needs, and the treatment available, can be shared with the police and courts to inform charging and sentencing decisions. Where appropriate, the offender can be diverted away from the court and in to treatment, which could include a Mental Health Treatment Requirement, or away from the criminal justice system entirely. L&D is commissioned by NHS England and is currently operating across nearly 70% of England. Full roll-out is expected by 2020/21. In addition, MoJ is working with NHS England, the Home Office, the Department of Health and Public Health England to deliver the commitment made in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health (2016) to develop a complete health and justice pathway to deliver integrated interventions in the least restrictive setting as appropriate to the crime committed. Health care is a matter devolved to the Welsh Government. Wales has a separate but similar scheme called the Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Service.

Prisons

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons he or the Minister for Prisons have visited in (a) England and (b) the North West in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: David Lidington was appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice on 11 June 2017; since his appointment he has visited:HMP/YOI PentonvilleHMYOI FelthamHMYOI AylesburyHMP ColdingleyHMP/YOI ParcHMP Bronzefield I was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 17 July 2016. In 2016 I visited:HMP ColdingleyHMP/YOI Wormwood ScrubsHMP/YOI BelmarshHMP LewesHMP LeedsHMP RanbyHMP Birmingham In 2017 I have visited:HMP/YOI DownviewHMP ChelmsfordHMP WinchesterHMP Rye HillHMP/YOI WoodhillHMP Guys MarshHMP/YOI Stoke HeathHMP/YOI BelmarshHMP Frankland The information requested for previous Secretary of States and the Minister for Prisons is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

Prison Officers

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were employed in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) HM Prison Liverpool in each of the last 12 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Information on the number of prison officers employed in England, North West and HM Prison Liverpool in the last 12 years is contained in table 1 below. HMP Liverpool was a pathfinder site which meant that it was prioritised for the recruitment of prison officers. Table 1: Band 3-5 Officers employed in England, the North West and HM Prison Liverpool (Full Time Equivalent), as at 31 March 2006-2017  EnglandNorth West1HM Prison Liverpool31/03/200623,6212,21642831/03/200723,7832,25142831/03/200824,2242,37240731/03/200924,8772,36338431/03/201024,1112,27237631/03/201123,6722,18533831/03/201222,0732,02730031/03/201320,8581,90829031/03/201417,6721,61426231/03/201517,6411,62525131/03/201617,7231,60424531/03/201717,5341,558280 Notes:1. Information reflects the latest regional prison management structure, which is not the structure in place throughout the time series. The prisons included in the North West region are Buckley Hall, Haverigg, Hindley, Kennet, Kirkham, Lancaster, Lancaster Farms, Liverpool, Preston, Risley, Thorn Cross, Wymott.

Prisons

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) violence, (b) drug use, (c) use of drones and (d) use of mobile phones in prison.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The level of violence in our prisons is too high. Illicit trade in items such as mobile phones and drugs – facilitated by supply routes such as drones – is a significant driver of the increase in assaults on staff and other prisoners. We are fully committed to addressing the increase in violence and assaults by increasing staffing levels and improving prisoner-staff relationships. We are making swift progress in strengthening the frontline, with 20,003 individual prison officers in post at the end of August – an increase of 1,290 since October 2016. Alongside this, we are moving to a new key worker model which will mean every residential prison officer supporting a caseload of around 6 prisoners. This will mean prisoners have a consistent, named officer to challenge and support them away from violence and reoffending. We have invested in 5,600 body-worn cameras across the prison estate, rolled out alongside training in staff interaction with prisoners, to support better relationships and give high-quality evidence to support prosecutions where assaults do take place. We are likewise determined to tackle the illegal flow of drugs and mobile phones into our prisons. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has established national and regional intelligence units, which are working with law enforcement partners to develop intelligence on offenders who are involved in the illicit economy, so that we can carry out operations to find and disrupt criminal activity in prisons. We are building on this by investing £3 million to create an HMPPS Serious Organised Crime Unit, which will work closely with the Home Office and police forces to further disrupt organised crime in prisons. We are the first jurisdiction in the world to develop tests for psychoactive substances in prisons, and are using these and over 300 trained sniffer dogs in order to detect those using and supplying them. Anyone found with contraband will be subject to disciplinary action and police investigation. We have invested £2 million to equip every prison in England and Wales with technology to strengthen searching and security, including portable detection poles which can be deployed at fixed points such as reception, and extra portable signal detectors to use on the wings to support searches. We are working with mobile network operators to deliver ground-breaking technology, which will stop mobiles smuggled into prisons from working. We are also bearing down on the supply routes through which illicit items enter prisons. To date, there have been over 40 arrests and 15 convictions of criminals involved in drone activity – resulting in those convicted being sentenced to a total of more than 40 years in jail. In April 2017 we set up a specialist team of prison and police officers to improve our efforts to intercept and capture drones and bring the criminals involved to justice. We are working closely with government partners on the UK’s response to the drone threat and the development of counter drone technology. This is keeping us at the forefront of the work being progressed nationally and internationally to stop criminal use of drones.

Reoffenders: Females

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of reconviction rates among women leaving prison.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The graph below shows the proven reoffending data for adult females released from custody, January 2010 to December 2015. As it shows, reconviction rates for women leaving prison have remained relatively stable across this period.  Notes 1. These figures have been derived from administrative IT systems, which as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.2. A proven reoffence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period that leads to a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up or within a further six month waiting period to allow the offence to be proven in court.3. Number of offenders in each disposal category do not sum to the total number of offenders. This is due to a difference in methodology to provide a realistic and relevant view of proven reoffending by disposal type. The first event within each disposal is taken as the start point. Therefore, some offenders will appear in more than one disposal category.4. From October 2015 onwards, reoffending data are collected using different data sources to previous quarters. Therefore, users should be cautious when making any comparison between the October to December 2015 cohort and earlier cohorts. 5. Data is based on a new measure of proven reoffending that was published on 26 October 2017 which aligns with the first ever published final figures for Payment by Results, so these figures should not be compared to any previous reoffending figures.



Graph
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.59 KB)

Prisoners' Release: Mothers

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to help mothers leaving prison rebuild family relationships.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Families can play a significant role in supporting an offender and positive family relationships are an important factor in reducing reoffending. We have given prison governors the budget and flexibility to spend their resources as they see fit to help prisoners establish or maintain important family and significant other ties. A new contract for family services across the female estate was awarded in early October 2017. This will allow women’s prisons to work closely with a single professional family services provider, to develop innovative services including those to support mothers in preparing for their release. We are also enabling better communication between families and facilitating organised and constructive family days alongside courses and programmes to promote parenting and family engagement. Community Rehabilitation Companies are responsible for through the gate provision, which includes resettlement support for male and female offenders on release. We recognise that improvements need to be made to current services, and are working with providers to consider further action that we might take.

Prisoners' Release: Females

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of trends in the level of homelessness among women leaving prison.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Making sure that we address female offenders’ housing and support needs is an absolute priority, at national and local level, given the link between homelessness and re-offending. We recognise that improvements need to be made to current probation services and are working with providers to consider further action that we might take. Whilst the latest data suggests that there is an apparent increase in homelessness, it cannot therefore be assumed that homelessness has increased over the data period, as there are limitations to this data due to the rates of non-recording which we have been seeking to improve. The table below only shows releases from prison who are under Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) supervision. There is no equivalent Settled Accommodation on Release metric for the NPS so data on National Probation Service (NPS) releases has not been included. Releases of Female Allocated Persons (of a CRC) From Custody Quarter  Jan-Mar 2016Apr-Jun 2016Jul-Sep 2016Oct-Dec 2016Jan-Mar 2017Apr-Jun 2017Releases1,1431,0551,0509721,0921,087Recorded as Homeless1103132126134164227   Notes:1Cases where the Accommodation Status recorded on the day of release was: Homeless (any), Squatting or No fixed Abode were counted as homeless.Not all releases have an Accommodation Status recorded; of this dataset, between 16% and 5% of releases in each quarter did not record an accommodation status.The reported proportion homeless increases over the reported period (9% to 21%), however the rate of non-recording has decreased due to HETE initiative (16% to 5%).It cannot be assumed that homelessness has increased.Because recording of Accommodation Statuses at release in London CRC is too low to be reliable, London CRC has been excluded from this dataset.Releases at Licence Expiry (without post-sentence supervision), releases following a period on remand without a custodial sentence, and releases outside of HMPPS authority (e.g. release for deportation, release to an address in Scotland or Northern Ireland) are not in this dataset.This dataset records each release separately; if an offender is released more than once, they will appear more than once in this dataset.Releases of persons who are not Allocated Persons of a CRC (i.e. offenders managed by the NPS) are not included in this dataset.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Brexit

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much funding his Department has allocated to prepare for the contingency of no deal being reached in negotiations between the UK and the EU.

David Mundell: Like all departments, the Scotland Office is planning for a number of EU Exit scenarios to make sure we are ready on Day 1. Over £250m of additional funding has been approved across a number of departments in 2017/18 to prepare for Brexit. The Scotland Office has received additional funding this year, and has reprioritised to meet new pressures arising from Brexit preparations. Additional funding received from the reserve for 2017/18 will be set out at Supplementary Estimates and decisions on funding in future years will be confirmed at a later date.

Cabinet Office

Elections: Expenditure

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has assessed the findings and conclusions of the September 2017 report by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Elections for Sale?; and if he will implement that report's recommendations on reform of the current electoral spending rules.

Chris Skidmore: The Government has noted the report and keeps issues related to electoral spending rules under review.

Special Constables: Leave

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2017 to Question 105664, on special constables: leave, whether it is the policy of all government departments to provide paid leave for employees to undertake special constable training and duties.

Caroline Nokes: The government is supportive of all employees wanting to undertake volunteering opportunities including those carrying out training and duties as a police special constable. Departments have provision within their special leave policy to allow time off for volunteering. It is for individual departments to consider the amount of paid leave they are able to offer. All departments provide a minimum of 3 days.

Immigration

Ben Lake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government's annual migration figures include seasonal workers.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 110.44 KB)